The Battle For Art!

THE MOTHER OF SIGHS

2012-01-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

"Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

If you live anywhere in the Northwest don't fuck up and miss this opportunity to view a very rare 35mm print of Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA presented by Portland Grindhouse tomorrow night! This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience this hallucinatory occult masterpiece as it was intended: on a 50 foot screen with intoxicants flowing freely and followed by your choice of either Graveyard or Ghost who, in a cruel stroke of Swedish irony, are playing separate venues on the same night (Really? You don't think Dario Argento wanted his film followed by psych-influenced Scandinavian rock???). SUSPIRIA has been passionately revered and reviled over the past three decades so at this point you should know exactly where you stand, but allow me to provide a bit of context for the casual viewer. Italian horror cinema is characterized by evocative style over logical narrative. If you expect a linear plot with character development and rational story arc you will be sorely disappointed by this film. If watching people make stupid decisions and stand still when they should RUN causes your blood pressure to rise, you should probably stay home. And if you thought Hitchcock was misogynistic you should definitely take your date to see Beauty and the Beast instead. Of course then you'd be missing the visual poetry of maggots raining down on scantily-clad ballerinas and a pretty girl in a nightgown leaping into a beautifully lighted room full of barbed wire. On the other hand, if you've ever enjoyed a mouthful of Salvia leaves at midnight and can temporarily suspend your faith in gravitational reality, you are in for a supernatural treat of total sensory overload! To fully appreciate the bombastic impact and undeniable thrill of this film it is best to remember that it was released in the U.S. before the advent of MTV, during an era when the disjointed aesthetics of the impending music video were still relegated to the ghetto of avant-garde film. This was a time when the gritty nihilism of 1970's horror, exemplified by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Last House On The Left, was ceding to a lighter and more self-aware period of horror franchises and assertive teen marketing. In fact, many of us saw this film for the first time on horribly edited VHS tapes several years after its initial 1977 theatrical debut (and revival in 1979) at the height of the home video craze and when you consider the pedestrian backdrop of snappy tongue-in-cheek 1980's horror it soon becomes clear what an all out war on the tyranny of the left hemisphere of the brain this film really represents. It is an icy razor slash of baroque color, symbol and feverish nightmare logic; the disorienting celluloid equivalent of an obscure conjuration scrawled in blood. Would a ballet school really store rolls of barbed wire in the attic? Would rotting food really cause a maggot infestation of such epic proportions? You're asking the wrong questions, pal. You should be paying attention to the blue iris. The blue iris. Oh yeah, the soundtrack is brought to us by a band of mysterious longhairs credited as "The Goblins". I hear it's pretty cool...

SUSPIRIA

Tuesday January 31, 2012

7:30pm

Hollywood Theater

4122 NE Sandy Blvd.

Portland, Oregon

IF YOU WANT BLOOD...

2012-01-20T13:06:00.001-08:00

...you got it! LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End on January 25th. This month I'll be spinning the new Teitenblood 12", new The Devil's Blood and new Vestal Claret (titled, appropriately enough, Bloodbath) along with some old Blood Duster, Blood Feast and G.G. Allin (cause he's the blood for you). Some people are planning to start gaming on my last Wednesday gigs so now you can jump into a game of Last Night On Earth or Cults Across America while I provide the soundtrack! Support your local Poser Kill Team! Bleeding begins at 9pm...

JANUARY 25, 2012

PRINT THIS!

2012-01-13T15:12:00.001-08:00

My first post of 2012...on Friday the 13th! I'm pleased to announce that I have a few prints in a group exhibition opening tomorrow in Genova, Italy at MF Gallery. The opening reception takes place Saturday January 14th from 7-10pm so if you live in the area be sure to support this event. Basically I'm trying very hard to curb my enthusiasm about today being Friday the 13th and so far I've resisted the urge to post a bunch of photos of Jason Voorhees since I went crazy last year. Ah, fuck it...

BEST SHOWS OF 2011!

2011-12-31T13:51:00.001-08:00

"We're Motorhead and we're gonna kick your ass..."

MOTORHEAD
February 5, 2011
(Roseland - Portland, Oregon)

This wasn't the first show of the year but things got started off right when Lemmy and the boys came to town and this happened. I asked Lemmy why he stopped playing Iron Horse/Born To Lose and he said he was just never particularly crazy about that song. I told him it was one of my favorite Motorhead songs of all time and that I thought maybe he stopped playing it because he wanted to distance himself from the Hell's Angels connection. He said, "Nah, it just isn't a very good song." With all due respect, I beg to differ. Thanks to Eric Heltzer and Jason Charles for making this night happen.

KALLISTI'S BENEFIT SHOW
February 11, 2011
(Blackwater - Portland, Oregon)

This might be the coolest thing punks have done since inventing anarchy and spikey hair back in 1977. My daughter Kallisti was selected to participate in a two week service learning project in Costa Rica with her 8th grade Spanish class this year. The only problem was, airfare was expensive. So in between painting her nails and watching re-runs of Gossip Girls she came up with the brilliant idea to throw a benefit gig to help pay for the trip (yeah, like you were gonna suddenly buy a bunch of art) and local punks stepped up to contribute their time and energy to the cause. Lebenden Toten brought the message and noise (mostly noise), Arctic Flowers (who released a great 12" in 2011) and Dove Asylum delivered the melody, and Vile Horrendous Aerial Bombardment dropped their crushing guerrilla grind with homemade weapons of fast destruction. A good time was had by all and Kallisti was soon hanging with the monkeys in Costa Rica. Thanks, punks!

BUILD YOUR WEAPONS! Photo by Dopi.

VOIVOD
May 28, 2011
(The Sonar - Baltimore, Maryland)

Admittedly, the highlight of Maryland Death Fest this year was my chance meeting with Michel "Away" Langevin who was wandering through the crowd during Neurosis' set. We've been in communication for a while but never had the opportunity to chat in person and he proved to be the humble, intelligent and good-natured astronaut I always imagined him to be. Voivod's set the following day was nothing short of spectacular. Killing Technology is one of the greatest records ever recorded (in any genre) so I was especially thrilled when they blasted through Forgotten In Space, Ravenous Medicine and Tornado! Daniel Mongrain is really something to behold, playing Piggy's parts with total respect and devotion. I have no idea how he even approached those incredibly complex and angular compositions but somehow he untangled all the right parts so that the songs came alive on stage. If you squinted your eyes (or, say, drank a fifth of whiskey) you would almost believe you were watching Piggy up there! And he turned out to be a very modest and approachable dude. Another highlight was Blacky stagediving right onto our heads at the end of the set. Top notch performance from one of the greatest bands ever!

Daniel Mongrain, Jeff Tandy, Körgull the Exterminator and a painfully cute metal journalist with a killer tattoo who had the good sense to clutch my left hand as it dangled perilously close to her breasts.

Another highlight of MDF was running into Paul Stanley in the pit during Funebrarum's killer set! Just kidding. Paul Stanley wasn't there. But Funebrarum's set was killer. And this happened...

DEAD CONGREGATION
May 29, 2011
(The Sonar - Baltimore, Maryland)

The Greek death mongers tell me their set at MDF was one of their worst performances ever. They should've just lied and told me it was their best because I was totally impressed and everyone I spoke to was very satisfied. It's entirely possible that drunk Americans are less demanding than our European counterparts but I tend to think these dudes just hold themselves to a higher standard because this was one of the most crushing sets of the entire weekend which is saying a lot because Cathedral, Aura Noir, Machetazo, Acid Witch, Repugnant and Cianide all delivered absolutely killer performances. Here are some photos for you:

Huggy Bear...oh boy.

Tim Call jumped onstage with Machetazo and blasted through Sex & Violence in memory of Pete Steele!

"...draped in cerecloth!!!!!"

Citizen's Arrest.

The Sons of Hades...on Gay Street.

Photo by Anna Wilson.

DOOM
May 30, 2011
(Branx - Portland, Oregon)

I approached Doom with caution when they played a reunion set at MDF this year. I was very excited to finally have the opportunity to see these seminal crusties but I haven't paid attention to them in the past decade and not all punks age like fine wines. Would they come onstage with their livers hanging off their utility belts? Would they inject their songs with modern nu-metal crunch "for the kids"? The second I saw 'em hit the stage with dreads still intact my fear was abated. They blasted through an inspired and sincere set of classics and even played a little ditty to "a woman's right to choose." They were so good in Maryland that when I returned to Portland on Monday night we drove straight from the airport to Branx and caught them again at this local all ages venue. We only caught Deathcharge's last song but it was Hangman so I was not disappointed. Then I went home and slept for 14 hours.

Photo by...who???

DANAVA/VASTUM
July 3, 2011
(East End/Saratoga - Portland, Oregon)

Weird lineup, huh? Actually this was two different events in the same day that resulted in one of the best shows of 2011. As many of you know I've been playing records at East End every last Wednesday of the month since August 2010 and only missed one month when I went to MDF in May. For those of you keeping score, that's 16 months- long enough to have a baby and watch it pop it's first tooth- so the East End crew has become something of a family to me and I was honored when they asked me to play records at their second annual block party this year. Danava was the highlight and they delivered a typically amazing set, made all the more special in that it was outdoors in the warm summer sun. The club provided unlimited beer the entire day while I worked the turntables so now imagine me stumbling through the crowd at sunset so I could make it across town to catch a death metal gig at the Saratoga. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. We got there just in time to catch the last 20 minutes of Anhedonist (probably about one song knowing those dudes) and then Oakland's Vastum hit the floor (the Saratoga don't need no stinkin' stage). I have trouble getting into their record but live it really came together, probably because of the singer's charismatic presence. Great show! Incidentally, when I become too drunk to raise my middle finger at you, please cut me off and take me home...

Photo by Anna Wilson.

Another goddamn photo by Anna Wilson. I'm glad this Nordic Queen was at my side all year!

WEREGOAT
June 2, 2011
(Blackwater - Portland, Oregon)

I already sufficiently covered this event on my blog so I'll spare you the details. All you need to know is that I planned the opening reception of Cut & Pasted, Burned & Wasted to coincide with my birthday this year and asked my pals in Weregoat to perform for the occasion. Wait until you see their upcoming LP! Daniel Desecrator, who's spectacular drawings were publicly exhibited for the first time at this event, provided the album cover art and it is definitely one of his best drawings to date. Hail to Chile! Hail to Weregoat!

"OK...I'll DO IT!!!!"

AUTOPSY
June 24, 2011
(Oakland, California)

Another event that I already provided full photographic evidence for back in June. Suffice to say, we drove 13 hours to Oakland for a private performance in the Autopsy practice room and I can now die a happy man. The following day we saw a slightly abridged set at Slaughter By The Water along with Whiplash and Nuclear Assault! Here's the set they played:

The hater of fucking humans herself. Photo by Anna. Why won't she just marry me?

ADORIOR
December 9, 2011
(Backtage Live - San Antonio, Texas)

Look, It's New Year's Eve and I'm sick of typing words. I apologize but I've already given you cretins more than you deserve. Much more. These last two picks are basically a toss up because every band that actually played at Rites of Darkness put in quite a fucking performance. It was almost as if the bands delivered their best in spite of all the ridiculous shenangigans that unfolded in the weeks leading up to the event. Dispirit, Weapon, Impetuous Ritual, Cianide, Midnight, Grave Upheaval, Anatomia, Ares Kingdom and Black Witchery all deserve to be on this list but if I have to split hairs about who impressed me the most I guess I would come down on Adorior and Inquisition. Adorior never really works for me on vinyl. I've always wanted to love 'em- mostly because they have the terrible taste to employ Paul "Unhinged" McCarroll for their artwork- but for some reason their recordings just don't do it for me. On stage they positively exploded with passion! They're way more of a traditional heavy metal band than their brilliantly disgusting artwork might suggest and on stage it was a headbangin' extravaganza of epic proportions. They also sold out of their exclusive ROD shirts which featured the Pope covered in cum and surrounded by a most horrible display of cocks. I sure hope a few of those made appearances at Christmas dinners around the world this month.

"Crush! Crush! Crush!"

INQUISITION
December 9, 2011
(Backstage Live - San Antonio, Texas)

Speaking of upsetting Christians, the first time I saw Inquisition was with Thy Infernal at a Moribund Records event back in '98 or '99 at Portland's Satyricon (which closed its doors in 2011, serving as yet another reminder of how much this year can fuck off) and they were a very different band. If my memory is accurate, they had a much thrashier black/death sound and a full band. A lot has changed since then and their recent incarnation is amazing. I still have no idea how two dudes make those sounds but they pull it off live perfectly. I'll go out on a limb and say they are currently my favorite American black metal band. And they've been battling it out in the trenches long before a lot of their goofy Yankee peers jumped on Satan's bandwagon. It's a rigidly limited act but somehow they just keep getting better.

Happy New Year! Best Wishes for 2012!

BEST OF 2011: Part 10!

2011-12-30T15:29:00.001-08:00

"Let's find a darker night. Let's find a brighter light. Let's go away to some place strange. And bring back a whole new change..." Blue Cheer

SATURNALIA TEMPLE
Aion of Drakon
(Ajna Offensive/Nuclear Winter)

Here is one for the ages. These posts haven't been in any particular order but Saturnalia Temple definitely created what has become my personal favorite and most listened to record of the year. I’ve absolutely adored everything this mysterious trio has committed to vinyl from UR and the Forgotten Cults 7” to their visionary contribution to the four-way split On The Powers of the Sphinx and with Aion of Drakon they have delivered something very special indeed. These are hypnotic and intoxicating (intoxicated!) chthonic transmissions from the darkest woods of Mother North...and far beyond! Steeped in genuine occult obsession and disciplined ritual, the Saturnalians have much in common both lyrically and spiritually with the anti-cosmic framework of Dissection, replacing much of their predecessor's gore and aggression with potent hashish and incense. It seems like every time I spin this record in public (which is often) some dude with a curly mustache and a Hawkwind t-shirt inevitably asks if it is Electric Wizard. I suppose I understand that shallow comparison in the same way all black people look alike but to my untrained ears Saturnalia Temple doesn't share much in common with “stoner rock” or even most self-proclaimed doom metal, although I do hear influences from the largely overlooked early Monster Magnet demo 25...Tab (if you're only familiar with Monster Magnet's embarrassing MTV antics, do yourself a favor and seek out the earlier Glitterhouse EP and recently re-issued 25...Tab for some surprisingly muscular New Jersey drug rock). For the most part they walk an entirely different path with only incidental creative crossover. Nowhere is this more evident than on the hypnotic 11 minute title track with its bizarre analog production and the crushing closer, Fall, a triumphant ode to the Luciferian Spirit that informs their most inspired moments. I look forward to watching this band evolve over the years, especially if they can lock in a permanent drummer, and those of you with the resources to travel should be sure to catch them at Roadburn in April along with Voivod (performing Dimension Hatross in its entirety!) among many others. In a twist of fate that certainly puts satisfying closure on the year, my art for Aion of Drakon was recently selected among the best of 2011 by metal scribe Todd DePalma over at Left Hand Path. I don't generally pay much attention to what journalists/critics/anonymous interwebbers have to say about my drawings but in this case I am honored to be featured among the ranks of a few similarly devoted contemporary artists. By the way, what a year for album art! I'd say visual art absolutely trumped music in 2011. Of course I'm completely biased since I can't even tune an instrument, much less compose an actual song. Check out DePalma's complete artistic recap here. Black Magic Metal to rule again!

BEST OF 2011: Part 9!

2011-12-29T11:15:00.001-08:00

"The most ferociously original death metal demo of the year."
-Stephen King

GRAVE UPHEAVAL
Demo
(Abysmal Sound)

If the thrash revival a few years ago made you blush then the latest rehashed metal trend should have you squirming like a maggot: OLD SCHOOL DEATH METAL™! I feel like there should be some terrible tagline after I type those words like, “It’s back from the grave…and it doesn’t smell good.” If I had a dollar for every time some frowning youngster with a scraggly beard described his new band as “old school death metal” this year I’d probably have enough money to repair the transmission in my fucking car. “Occult” is another misused term that I don’t need to hear again for quite some time, although in all fairness I’m about to drop the O-bomb a few more times before these year-end posts are done. The good thing about trends is that if hundreds of dudes are suddenly recycling the same riffs, at least a dozen or so are bound to really excel at it. The problem of course is that trends are always driven by imitation and, with painfully few exceptions, followers rarely achieve even a semblance of the creative impact of their original reference point. Doesn’t it seem like suddenly everyone is citing Incantation as an influence? Don’t get me wrong, Incantation is really good. But where were all these doomy longhairs back in the 90’s when McEntee and crew were struggling to fill bars and nobody seemed to care? It’s just weird how the world works. Anyway, my point is…what the hell was my point? There have been a lot of Old School Death Metal™ releases recently but this humble little Grave Upheaval demo rose to the top of the smoldering funeral pyres that are my ears. I'm not even sure if this was released in 2011 but since the cassette doesn't have a date and it only recently made the rounds in my neck of the woods, I figure it's fair game. Remember that sound the demons made in The Evil Dead as they ripped through the woods toward the cabin? It was sorta like Gregorian chants being backward-masked on a dying stereo and then sped up through a crappy handheld tape recorder. The portly dude from Grave Upheaval sometimes sings like that. This is very satisfying metal of death featuring two of the masterminds from Portal and Impetuous Ritual- so you know they’ve got insane chops- but this is not so much about nauseating riffs as it is throbbing mortuary atmosphere. These four mangled hymns are never overly technical and don’t outstay their welcome like so much other bethtial (sic) death metal I heard this year. I realize I’m a gay moron with the attention span of a toddler but who really wants to hear a death metal song longer than 6 minutes? Answer: NPR. Yawn. What was I just talking about? Oh yeah, the Aussies also killed it at Rites of Darkness. I overheard some chain and spikes in the hotel elevator complaining about their sound but I’m pretty sure that swampy cacophony was exactly what the band intended since they had their own guy cranking the knobs (which, incidentally, was exactly the sort of mandatory D.I.Y. initiative that was required all weekend to allow this avalanche of cancellations and mismanagement to happen at all- it was quite moving actually). My cinematic admonishment for 2012: children shouldn’t play with dead things.

Photo by Anna Wilson.

BEST OF 2011: Part 8!

2011-12-28T12:58:00.001-08:00

Meadow's ~~smart~~ drunk phone strikes again. Danava at East End circa 2011.

DANAVA
Hemisphere of Shadows
(Kemado Records)

I'll be the first to admit that I hadn't been paying much attention, but since their modest inception in 2003 as a Goblin cover band these local longhairs have been carefully honing their craft and building a cult following with tours across the U.S. and Europe and this third LP is a charm! Like the uppity shape-shifting demons of Hindu lore from which they take their name, Portland's Danava have magically metamorphosed in recent years and are ready for revolt on Hemisphere of Shadows. Singer/axeman/keyboardist Greg Meleney is writing some of the best material of his life right now and he ain't afraid to go tell it on the mountain with nasally highs that recall the days when Ozzy was just another disaffected bloke scarfing down rat salad and sweet leaf. He can belt it out with the best of 'em and on stage the man is something to behold. Like the bastard child of Dan McCafferty and Wendy Carlos (don't think about that too long), Meleney oozes sinister soul from every pore and when he lurches up to the microphone the realms of Patala tremble! Which brings me to my only complaint about this LP. It sounds weird. I didn't even notice until I put a song on a mix tape for a friend and heard the production juxtaposed with other recordings but the vocals sound like they were recorded behind damp drywall in the downstairs apartment. Fortunately the songs outshine the D.I.Y. production and nothing can hold back contagious jams like I Am The Skull (with its eerie snyth interlude), Riding Hood (with all the swagger and hustle of the ol' Witchdoctor Woman...remember her?), and masterful Slowbone cover with its proto-Iron Maiden harmonies building to one of the best choruses that jolly 1970's England had to offer. Hemisphere of Shadows is the epic here but the boys gracefully bring it on home right at the six minute mark and close with a creeper. Ignore the inevitable "hipster" and "faux retro" bullshit that might follow in their prism-colored afterglow (these dudes got their start with former Engorged vocalist Ben "Mustapha Akkad" Vargas, a devoted Krishna in the Cro Mags tradition who christened the band without a trace of smirking irony) and enjoy some righteous 'banging. While I'm waxing poetic about Kemado Record's smartest signing, be sure to grab the Electric Voyage 7" they also released this year (thanks to Greg Meleney of course). Total smoker! In the words of my favorite cross-dressing enemy of censorship, "You can't stop rock 'n' roll!"

BEST OF 2011: Part 7!

2011-12-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

This machine kills mortals.

ROB COFFINSHAKER
Dark Rollin' Skies
(Lightning Records)

Rob Coffinshaker is a brilliant troubadour of the eternal night, one of the truly great singer-songwriters of our age. What does it matter that he is also undead and cursed to roam the world until time itself ceases to be? His earthy bass-baritone calls up ghosts from the lost frontiers of old Americana, stirs bones centuries deep in the valley of Transylvania and rises up through the hallowed soil of Sweden like a terrible ancient plague born of blood, tears and seductive melody. This is far blacker than whatever black metal you've been cutting your arms to lately. And it's just one man with an acoustic guitar and a croon that rarely quivers above a stern whisper. Of course our European brothers and sisters have been wise to his magic for many years but North Americans might catch on yet (it only took four decades after the death of American balladeer Woody Guthrie for his home state of Oklahoma to finally honor his musical legacy with a formal museum archive, and even this modest recognition is being fiercely contested by southern fat cats who still frown on his commie political leanings). If you haven't spent quality time with Mr. Coffinshaker you soon will, as we all must. And this beautiful 7", his third solo offering, is as good a place as any to get started. You'll want red wax in the candelabra and plenty of good bourbon. The four songs on this latest EP are something of a departure from the overt vampire ballads and dark country swing of his band The Coffinshakers and it is a testament to his gift that what remains when he momentarily sheds the cape of persona are gripping meditations on death, betrayal and the pain of loss that time will never heal. For the most part these are well-worn traditionals given the cold unmistakable touch of the grave- equal parts Johnny Cash and Christopher Lee. I'm not sure if the title track Dark Rollin' Skies is an original or not but many of you will immediately recognize Stone Is Very, Very Cold, Henry Green and In The Pines, the latter being a particularly tragic confessional made famous by Leadbelly's quivering rendition (and returned to radio more recently via Kurt Cobain) sometimes referred to as Black Girl. Settle in, friends. It's going to be a long cold night. Limited to 666 copies, naturally.

BEST OF 2011: Part 6!

2011-12-26T15:32:00.001-08:00

"Sister, the slaughter has already begun..."

The Video Dead (1987)

XANDER HARRIS
Urban Gothic
(Not Not Fun)

When I hear electronic dance music I usually do one of three things: 1) ask for my coffee in a to-go cup 2) press eject on the VCR or 3) toss my last four crumpled dollars on the rack and call it a night. It always sounds like some cold not-too-distant future dystopia to which I have not been invited where everyone wear's pointy shoes and has geometric hairstyles. In the stuttering din of synthetic beats I am primitive man recoiling from fire in dumbstruck awe. But possession takes many shapes and apparently some people prefer to shake their asses in the neon glow of mechanized darkness. Who am I to judge? This is a fantastic record for shaking your ass if you are so inclined or, in my case, sliding on the headphones and disappearing into the limitless abyss of inner space. Justin Sweatt is your captain on the Xander Harris starship and you are in good hands. Just don't turn your back on his charming exterior and easy smile. He is a devoted horrorhound who channels menacing spectral frequencies into his deceptively accessible booty beats. Sweatt understands the dynamics of 80's horror soundtrack scores on an intuitive level and there are certainly echoes of John Carpenter, Alan Howarth, Brad Fiedel and Claudio Simonetti pulsating through this debut full-length LP. The movie in your mind opens with a track fittingly titled Opening Credits which boasts the most jarring disco bounce of the entire collection- almost as if to intentionally throw unattuned listeners off the intoxicating scent of blood and burning aluminum that soon wafts through the sound waves in angular plumes. The House and First Body follow with plodding rhythm not unlike the more somber moments of Goblin's score for Dawn of the Dead. The Hunting is an alluring composition that builds to a brutal...uh...climax with nonchalant true crime confessionals anchoring the proceedings to some decidedly bad vibes. After the exorcism gone wrong on side two you open your eyes and find yourself in some nondescript European gay club with iridescent floor panels wondering what was in your drink and how the hell you got here. But just as you turn to leave some mysterious vamp with impossible cleavage takes your hand and guides you down a darkened hallway. You follow. This isn't exactly John Balance's anal staircase but perhaps something more horrifying, insidious and inescapable awaits, if only because it beckons so innocently. Somewhere a woman is screaming. She won't stop. Slaughter on the dancefloor!!!! Roll credits. Fade to black. Apparently there's been a lot of soundtrack worship creeping into the shoe and screen-gazer underground in the past few years. I guess some people call this hot new craze "witch house" and that sounds like a clammy underage Adderall party that I don't wanna attend (which is good since, like the future, I have not been invited). Fortunately Urban Gothic always remains bounds ahead of the bullshit. I should mention Matt Hill's Umberto because this dude also does horror homage right. His latest 7" Freeze is a pretty fun spin but a bit more self-conscious and goofier than his earlier full-lengths. Check out Prophecy of the Black Widow. Now that's a fucking record. Or if you wanna cut to the chase and experience a genuinely disturbing listening experience you can always throw on Jay Chattaway's brilliant Maniac soundtrack, which was re-mastered/re-issued this year in a ridiculously limited pressing that sold out in about two hours.

BEST OF 2011: Part 5!

2011-12-25T15:58:00.001-08:00

You're right. This photo has absolutely nothing to do with the new Autopsy record. But hanging with Chris Reifert and family was definitely a highlight of 2011.

AUTOPSY

Macabre Eternal
(Peaceville)

The reunion record to crush all reunions! Autopsy did the unthinkable: they created a killer double LP that not only sidesteps wimpy progression at the expense of their own legacy of brutality but also refuses to pander to the lowest common denominator with a lazy rehash of former glory. Don’t worry. You won’t hear any clean vocals, modern influences or production tricks on Macabre Eternal. In fact, if the boys are guilty of anything here it’s probably regression, with Eric Cutler’s contributions occasionally sounding more like early Necrophagia or Impetigo than Autopsy! Otherwise, this is exactly the ambitious 2011 record that fans might expect from the creators of Mental Funeral, the greatest death metal record of all time (fortunately for me, nobody reads this blog so I won’t have to moderate tons of angry comments from anonymous assholes who hope to assert their own "greatest death metal record of all time"). I shall go out on yet another dismembered limb and declare Always About To Die the death metal ballad of the year. Hands down. Carve these lyrics on my tombstone. If Autopsy only recorded this one song I would still include them on my “best of 2011” list. Reifert hits another poetic crescendo (seems like I type the same thing every year…talk about redundant journalism!) and the wry winks to both Jim Morrison and Bobby Leibling are not entirely lost on this imbecile. The very satisfying Wes Benscotter cover painting is also a fine return to form for the artist who basically single-handedly painted the entire 1990’s Relapse catalog. In fact, long ago I drunkenly coined the term “Benscotter Blues” to describe the feeling of impending dread one feels when one has partied (or drawn) longer into the night than anticipated and suddenly sees that faint indigo hue of dawn stabbing through the cracks in the blinds. It’s a terrible feeling perhaps best visualized in Benscotter’s painting for Hacked Up For Barbeque, which is itself something of an homage (intentional or not) to Bill Elder’s 1954 splash page for a self-referential EC comic titled, appropriately enough, The Night Before Christmas. You can also take my pal Ryan’s glass-half-full/glass-half-empty Autopsy self-analysis quiz. Just stare at the cover of Macabre Eternal and decide for yourself if those rascally zombies are stealing the skull or restoring the skull. Choose carefully, boys and girls. The answer also contains your forecast for the coming year…

BEST OF 2011: Part 4!

2011-12-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

VILLAINS
Road to Ruin
(Nuclear War Now!)

Leave it to the street metal scumbags of Villains to prove what a hopeless bunch of conformist pretenders most metal dudes really are. No offense to anyone who has health insurance and can actually pay the rent with their art but I’ll never understand why bands like Wolves In The Throne Room and Liturgy are practically household names and touring the goddamn world while a band like Villains can’t finance a simple two-week West Coast tour. The ultimate irony of course is that the creeping urban despair and genuine menace that characterizes Road To Ruin is actually more relevant to the crisis of modernity and far more worthy of intellectual analysis than any self-indulgent jams about livin’ on the land (hardly a new or radical concept, “eco-fascism” was taken up by myriad 1960’s communes as well as the lesser known but no less threatening MOVE organization of the 1970’s, a true “black kvlt" whose vermin infested home was literally bombed to rubble by the City of Philadelphia in 1985…but I digress). Their third full-length proves once again that Staten Island’s meanest are also the most honest born-to-lose survivors on the margins of the so-called underground. Heed my advice: this is a headphone record. And I’m not talking about your fucking iPod. Close the curtains and get yourself a heavy duty 20ft headphone cord so you can wander around the house kicking furniture and shoes while listening (or just vacuum the carpet like your lady asked). Opener Insult Inspiration is an immediately disorienting but surprisingly melodic jaunt through mainman Desecrator’s warped mind (and believe me, it ain’t a pretty place) with subliminal voices heaping unpleasant commands and ridicule galore. Things go from bad to worse when you find yourself in the motherfuckin’ Maniac Gutter (a nice place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there). Narc Violence is probably my favorite track on side one but I’m a sucker for a catchy chorus (note: see Midnight “review” earlier this week). Side two rips open like a virgin with the titular ultra-violent anthem Road To Ruin, a misanthropic manifesto and high note of hatred that perfectly echoes 2009’s Lifecode of Decadence. Acid Punk (a nod to Black Uniforms?) disintegrates into pig squealing horror until The Land Hag comes galloping to our dubious rescue with NWOBHM nuances that quickly spiral into yet another ugly vortex of cum-crusted chaos. I caught nods to Sodom, Infernal Majesty and early Mayhem in the vocals and graphic design but there are probably tons of more obscure references that I’m too much of a poser to identify. Prediction: 15 years from now anyone still into metal will be namedropping Villains as an influence (how many people actually cared about Amebix or Blasphemy during their respective heydays?). Everyone will have Lino’s artwork sewn onto the back of their vests and the band's ritual names will be uttered in reverent tones reserved for metal’s true elite (as opposed to, say, whatever populist bullshit is currently sponsored by a car company or garnering the most pages on some miserable message board thread). But don’t hold your breath. If Villains is right, there won’t be any life left in 15 years. Drink and be merry, pal.

BEST OF 2011: Part 3!

2011-12-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve and since my internet connection is currently serving as a cruel metaphor for 2011 (see this post), you get two posts from Satanta today...

CIANIDE
Gods of Death
(Hell's Headbangers)

I’ve been a Cianide fan ever since they perfectly posed like Venom for A Descent Into Hell and sampled Akira Ifukube at the end of their epic crusher Mountains in Thunder (devotees of all things HEAVY must also be devotees of GODZILLA!). I finally had the pleasure of experiencing their guttural tombstone bludgeoning live in Chicago back in 2007 at the Empty Bottle and by the end of their 40 minute set I was an even more devoted disciple. This year I was fortunate enough to catch ‘em twice, first in the high noon sun at Maryland Death Fest and again just a few weeks ago at the unexpectedly spectacular Rites of Darkness, and they did not fail to crush skulls like the TRUE warriors of death that they are (never one for subtlety, Cianide guitarist Scott Carroll was seen rushing toward the stage during Ghost’s highly anticipated set at MDF and very enthusiastically flipping the bird). You always know what you’re gonna get with Cianide and this new LP is no exception. They have a simple- no, primordial!- formula that is foolproof to my ears. When I turn to Cianide I don’t want progression, politics, diversity, evolution, meditation, costumes, scenes, message boards or stage banter. I want crushing caveman aggression! And that’s what they deliver in spades. Always. Gods of Death opens with Mike Perun’s throaty conjuration of Desecration Storm before lumbering straight into the downtuned Celtic Frost-on-Quaaludes riffing of Foresaken Doom and then back into the ripping headbanger Rising Of The Beast. Here’s the formula: fast, slow, faster, slower, heavier, repeat. This is the musical equivalent of a prison yard baseball bat beating followed by a rhino trampling and slow descent into hell’s quicksand. I spin Dead and Rotting every time I get to play records at the local bar. I’m not crazy about the cover art but that’s probably only because I’m a frustrated little man and would love to do artwork for them myself. In any case, another high (low?) note in a rotting body of killer tunes spanning well over a decade now.

BEST OF 2011: Part 2!

2011-12-22T13:37:00.001-08:00

DEATHCHARGE
Untitled
(Unseen Forces)

Deathchargehas been one of Portland, Oregon's best kept secrets for well over a decade now so it was about time they finally released their debut full-length (or whatever you call a 12" that runs at 45 rpm's). By the way, despite the Love Was Born To An Early Death poetry printed on the LP, the band insists that this is an untitled record. I first saw Deathcharge back in the Chinese Tea House days of yore (what is currently the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland was formerly many things including a sketchy Mexican restaurant and a Chinese joint that allowed punks to book shows in their basement) when they were strictly a Discharge worship band and their noisy style of sonic violence was well suited to dark basements and hard cider spit nights. They fell silent for several years as members played musical chairs in various bands but mainstay/founding member A. Void always remained true to his dark vision of micro/macro apocalypse. With the current lineup they have undeniably achieved new heights of creativity, even performing live with relative frequency. This is a strange and magnetic collection of songs with the flow of a powerful concept album that gets even better with time, not unlike Antisect's brilliant In Darkness There Is No Choice. I realize "post punk" is all the rage these days but this record perfectly melds the gothic overtures of early Christian Death with Killing Joke rhythm and the swirling tribal psychedelia of Monolith-era Amebix and it's all elegantly presented with outstanding artwork by Lebenden Toten vocalist Chanel Adair. I love this record so much that I insisted it be released on my very own label! You should buy everything on UNSEEN FORCES. Go here and spend all your holiday money wisely, kids. Shameless.

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO FUCK OFF...BEST OF 2011!

2011-12-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

"...we salute you!"

Welcome back on this dark Winter Solstice Eve, brothers and sisters! The year is winding to a close and it's time once again for me to rattle off my unqualified and absurdly self-centered "best of" list in no particular order. In the spirit of total transparency I should probably let you know that 2011 wasn't a good year for me. In fact, it was one of the lowest points in recent memory full of almost mystical fuck-ups such as my car breaking down and my inability to connect to the internet all month. There were many magical moments to be sure, but there was also an unprecedented level of bullshit that kept me out of the drawing dungeon for much of the year. I also didn't purchase a whole lot of new music this year and since I don't download new music I'm admittedly "out of the loop". But I've been out of the loop my whole life and I suppose that's where I prefer to remain. If I had it my way I would put my own Halloween Mix Tape on this list because to be perfectly honest I love that collection of songs and listened to it quite a bit. But I realize how disappointing that would be for some of you. Bah. Anyway, let's kick 2011 right out the fucking door and welcome in 2012 with a bang!

Athenar strangling a stagediver with his guitar strings at the end of the Midnight set at Rites of Darkness in San Antonio, Texas. Photo courtesy of Meadow's phone.

MIDNIGHT
Satanic Royalty
(Hell's Headbangers)

Royalty is a great word. Go ahead and say it out loud. The syllables roll off the tongue like war drums and you almost expect a gong to accentuate the pronunciation. Jeff Clayton employed this most powerful of words in what is possibly my very favorite Antiseen ditty. Remember NC Royalty? If not, youtube it immediately. The opening track on Midnight's latest full-length delivers all the power, glory and ROYALTY of rock 'n' roll and doesn't let up until the needle finally slides into the dead wax. Sure, Midnight got popular very quickly and it seems like everyone from the lady at my coffee shop to the janitor at my kid's school can be seen wearing a Midnight shirt these days, but don't hold popularity against 'em. When you write great songs you're bound to attract lots of attention. Just look at The Kinks, Kiss, Motorhead, Venom or Roky Erickson. Jamie "Athenar" Walters sure did (I’m no musician but Black Damnation is as elegant a homage to Roky Erickson’s Burn The Flame as you’re likely to ever hear). He has the unique ability to distill the best parts of the past 40 years of rock 'n' roll into his songs without ever sounding lazy, contrived or pandering. If you don't believe me just crank Violence on Violence or You Can't Stop Steel and try not to bang your fist like a fucking idiot. Just try. He also understands the essence of the less-is-more equation and deserves the goat crown for musical economy. No moody intros, bullshit samples, or even pauses between songs. Just straight to the kill. Everything Jamie has put his energy into from Boulder to Destructor has been nothing short of excellent and if Mach II had released a new record in 2011 you can be sure it would be on this list as well. I could have lived without the incongruous Black Axe cover at the end but, in a word, this is a perfect record for late night binges (pick your poison), strip club rituals and two-lane blacktop misadventures. Kiss the ring.

PORTLAND CITY HORROR HOLOCAUST!

2011-12-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

HORRORHOUNDS! This Saturday night Portland's very own Hollywood Theatre is hosting a special ALL-NIGHT HORROR HOLOCAUST featuring 35mm prints of George Romero's bleak zombie epic DAY OF THE DEAD, quintessential summer bummer THE BURNING (come for the garden tool butchery, stay for Ric Wakeman's awesomely cocaine-damaged synth score), psychedelic Shaw Brothers mindfuck BOXER'S OMEN (every line of this beautiful film could be an Inquisition song title and there is more mysticism and magic in its 100 minutes than the entire Rites of Darkness festival) and, finally, the relatively uneventful chainsaw gutsfuck of PIECES (c'mon, the poster is WAY better than the actual film...and I've sat through it at least 5 times). There will be beer.

Hollywood Theatre
4122 NE Sandy Blvd
Portland, Oregon
December 10
9 PM
$12

AUTOPSY on KOFY TV!

2011-12-05T17:49:00.001-08:00

Achtung, Bay Area cretins: AUTOPSY will be appearing on San Francisco cable television this Saturday December 10th at 11pm as part of Creepy KOFY Movie Time show on KOFY TV 20! They will be performing the song Voices from their oft-overlooked 1992 album Acts Of The Unspeakable! They'll also be showing the film The Galaxy Invader so expect plenty of cheese with your gore! It won't broadcast beyond the San Francisco/Oakland area so if you live down that way be sure to check it out.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY EAST END!

2011-12-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

I'd like to take a moment to wish a Happy Anniversary to all my friends at East End! Portland's finest watering hole and live music dungeon celebrates 4 years in business TONIGHT and that's no small feat in these hard times of dire rock'n'roll abandonment. Naturally, a lusty gang of vinyl nerds will descend on the scene this evening to commemorate the occasion and I will be on hand to personally alienate the crowd with Jay Chattaway's highly disturbing and divisive MANIAC soundtrack. Thanks for the good times, East End. Here's to many more! See you tonight! And don't forget to tip your bartender...

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT!

2011-11-21T22:52:00.000-08:00

Achtung, you lazy fucks! LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End on NOVEMBER 30th! This month will be the poor man's unofficial Rites of Darkness party, so expect vinyl assaults from Tribulation, ~~Dead Congregation~~, Aldebaran, ~~Birth A.D.~~, Weapon, Nunslaughter, Midnight, ~~Root~~, Cianide and some other cult selections that will inevitably sound like a garbage incinerator on those speakers. This might also be your only chance to actually hear all these bands in the same room since most of them will probably be denied visas or otherwise cancel their performances in Texas now that I bought my fucking plane ticket. Vinyl starts spinning at 9pm.

November 30, 2011

"IF YOU ARE A FALSE...DON'T ENTRY!"

DANAVA at EAST END...TONIGHT!

2011-11-13T03:29:00.001-08:00

DANAVA has returned from their North American tour and will be performing at EAST END tonight! I'll be playing records for the occasion so come out and listen to the brand new ASTAROTH 7"! Show starts at 9pm.

UNSEEN FORCES UPDATE

2011-11-02T23:22:00.001-07:00

The highly anticipated ASTAROTH 7" is AVAILABLE NOW...but moving fast! This one is strictly limited to 500 copies and we only have about 150 remaining. Order now at UNSEEN FORCES!

THE LAW and DEATHCHARGE repress are still available. Check here for combined shipping rates.

BOMBER

2011-10-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween to you all and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mickey Dee of Motorhead who was born today back in 1963! Obviously, Mickey Dee is one talented bastard and I was reminded the last time I saw Motorhead back in February what a terrific showman he is behind that crazy kit. He makes it fun to watch the drummer and that most definitely is not always the case. Mickey also held down the fort for heavy metal back in the 90's. Do you remember the 90's? Trust me, you owe Mickey Dee a drink. He also performed on my two favorite King Diamond records Fatal Portrait and Abigail. Now, Mickey Dee did not play on the early Motorhead records that defined the band's raw sound and white line ethos but we also celebrate that most seminal (cough) era today. In fact, the classic third LP Bomber was released this very week back in 1979 and the rest, as they say, is history. It stands the test of time as one of the finest rock n roll records of the late 70's. To commemorate the occasion of its release upon the world (and to get candy from strangers) I glued Cocoa Puffs to my face and did speed for five consecutive days. Just kidding about that last part. But the Cocoa Puffs are very real. Trick or treat!

I REMEMBER HALLOWEEN

2011-10-31T00:55:00.000-07:00

BOO! My third annual Halloween Mix Tape is now available for download at the indomitable Cosmic Hearse! Aesop Dekker has been blowing minds with obscure tunes every fucking day since 2007 and I'm honored that he's asked me to make my spooky mix tapes an annual tradition. I hope you get a little thrill out of the bloodcurdling ditties I've assembled for you this year. Or at least a laugh. In case you missed out, here's a link to last year's mix and my 2009 mix. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT!

2011-10-23T20:07:00.001-07:00

"Music is my life!"

LAST ~~WEDNESDAY~~ HALLOWEEN ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End this Wednesday OCTOBER 26! Join me for a special evening of horror soundtracks, spooky heavy metal and witch's brew drink specials! 9pm until 2am. Jack-o-lantern carving at midnight!

OCTOBER 26, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILLIAM GIRDLER!

2011-10-22T00:46:00.001-07:00

"The time has come..."

~William Marshall

That's right, boils & ghouls...it's almost HALLOWEEN! If you're looking to liven up this cold October with some sleazy cinematic treats, why not revisit the obscure, under appreciated, fucked-up films of prematurely buried auteur William Girdler? What??!! You never heard of William Girdler?! Well, today is his birthday and had he lived a full life he would be celebrating 64 years of mind boggling movie-making madness. Fortunately for us, he packed a lot of living into his brief existence and directed no less than nine films before the age of 30. To commemorate his birth and celebrate his frequently ignored legacy, I've pillaged the Destroying Angels archives to bring you this humble introduction to the mysterious young man who delivered such films as Asylum of Satan (1972), Abby (1974), Grizzly (1976) and Day of the Animals (1977). This tribute was written by Michael Grutchfield (aka, "Pope George Ringo II") and cut & pasted/footnoted by yours cruelly many years ago for issue #3. Click on the images below to zoom in, turn on and drop dead. Happy Birthday, William Girdler. Rest In Pieces (I couldn't resist).

LOVECRAFT

2011-10-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out last night and joined me in invoking the season! Especially Ryan, Jason, Mason, Cassy, Meadow and our lovely LOVECRAFT bartender, Zoe, who really didn't have much choice in the matter. We'll do it again very soon...

SILVER SHAMROCK

2011-10-18T01:13:00.000-07:00

As the veils thin and we creep inexorably toward the grave it is time to laugh at death, invoke the Old Ones and spill absinthe all over my records again. Tomorrow night I will be playing records for your listening (dis)pleasure at Portland's very own Cthulhu themed nightclub The Lovecraft. This will be a special evening of Halloween themed music, scary soundtracks and horror flicks projected on the venue's movie theater sized screen. It's almost time, kids...

THE LOVECRAFT

Wednesday October 19

421 Southeast Grand Avenue

Portland, Oregon

9pm-2am

"...stir the dormant sense of strangeness."

UNSEEN FORCES UPDATE

2011-10-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

The official re-issue of THE LAW None Escape is NOW AVAILABLE! Originally released in 1983 as an extremely limited pressing and now commanding hefty prices when it surfaces online, we've lovingly dusted off this rare jewel and pressed it to 180 gram vinyl so that it can be (re)discovered and enjoyed again in its proper medium with liner notes from one of the founding members. Fans of The Rods, Oz, Blue Cheer and Buffalo will experience a familiar throbbing between the legs. Limited to 500. Order now at UNSEEN FORCES!

PISS YOUR PANTS

2011-10-08T18:34:00.001-07:00

David A. Hess

September 19, 1942 - October 8, 2011

It may seem quaint in these days of live streaming bukkake porn and jihad decapitations but when I was a kid Last House On The Left (1972) hit me hard and was one of the few pieces of cinematic art that nearly knocked the wind out of my young gorehound guts. I can still remember watching it in awestruck silence for the first time with my older brother and by the time the screen finally faded to black we both felt like our eyeballs had just been rolled slowly through some rank Stygian sewer. It was a mean spirited anti-joy ride into the shadow side of the dawning of the Age of Aquarius and even the eventual parental retribution by chainsaw and toothy fallatio could not restore goodness or equilibrium to the world. Things go from bad to worse and everyone is complicit, especially the viewer. One of the main reasons this re-imagining of Ingmar Bergman's Virgin Spring (1960) worked so well was the absolutely unflinching performance by a rugged unknown named David Hess. Hess' seething portrayal of "Krug", the ultimate freewheelin' sociopath, was so unnerving that his greasy grimace would forever be associated with celluloid scumbaggery and he would go on to terrorize audiences with nearly identical roles in Hitch Hike (1978) and Ruggero Deodato's essential House On The Edge Of The Park (1980). I never had the opportunity to meet David Hess but my guess is that his real life temperament had very little in common with his violent onscreen rampages. By all accounts he was a laid back acoustic guitar slinger and a loving dad and husband. I sorta prefer to think he was Krug 24-7. Sadly, today we bid farewell to this cult actor, singer-songwriter and honorary eyeball rapist. In memory of David Hess' legacy I humbly offer up his original soundtrack for Last House On The Left, a film that was released the year I was born and had such an impact on me as a kid that I named my regular DJ gig in respectful homage, forever causing all manner of confusion among people who don't get the reference and believe every fucking month is my last month of spinning records (they should be so lucky). R.I.P. Krug. Enjoy, idiots:

The Road Leads To Nowhere...

BLOKE PARTY

2011-10-07T16:12:00.001-07:00

DANAVA has kindly requested that I play records at their official record release show at East End tomorrow night. If you live in Portland, be sure to come out and grab their new LP Hemisphere of Shadows. The rest of you North American continent dwellers are advised to catch them in support of THRONES on their upcoming tour. Since hatching in 2003, DANAVA has metamorphosed like a strange chromatic insect and the latest offering is a beautiful hard rock creation fossilized with eerie sythns and duel shredding not entirely unlike Wendy Carlos doing knife hits with Jerusalem and Di'Anno-era Iron Maiden. Don't let any of the inevitable half-assed "hipster" and "faux-retro" descriptors throw you off the scent. This is a band at the glorious zenith of a long strange trip indeed.

THRONES & DANAVA

2011 TOUR DATES

Oct 12 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
Oct 13 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Satellite
Oct 14 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
Oct 15 - Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture
Oct 18 - San Antonio, TX @ The 1011
Oct 19 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
Oct 20 - New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks
Oct 22 - Nashville @ The End
Oct 23 - Atlanta @ 529
Oct 25 - Baltimore, MD @ Golden West Cafe
Oct 26 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
Oct 27 - Brooklyn, NY @ The Acheron
Oct 28 - Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
Oct 29 - Somerville, MA @ PA's Lounge
Oct 30 - Providence, RI @ Machines with Magnets
Oct 31 - Portland, ME @ Space Gallery
Nov 1 - Montreal, QC @ Club Lambi
Nov 2 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
Nov 3 - Detroit, MI @ Lager House
Nov 4 - Indianapolis, IN @ Vollrath
Nov 5 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Nov 7 - Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
Nov 8 - Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
Nov 12 - Seattle, WA @ Comet Tavern

GROSS ANATOMY (part 14)

2011-10-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Gross Anatomy, psilvercybin surfers! Lately I've been doing lots of nostalgic rambling on the blog but today we unveil a new illustration I did recently for a local Portland band who asked nicely at precisely the right moment. Eternal Tapestry is a spacey jam band comprised of a bunch of music nerds who drink coffee in my neighborhood. They have a meandering krautrock sound not entirely unlike the more organic moments of Neu! and Can with a righteous dose of Hawkwind slipped on the tongue for good measure. It was refreshing to collaborate with a band that smiles often and doesn't pretend they're soldiers in an imaginary war (although they do fancy themselves "vandals of the void"). Absolutely no bullet belt pretense with these unassuming gentlemen. They've been noodling away in blissful obscurity for about six years and finally decided to take their improvisational magic carpet on the road to Europa. The tour kicks off this week with a string of dates on the east coast before they head overseas. Here's the shirt I drew to commemorate the occasion...

Brainstorm: As usual I started scribbling aimlessly until I landed on a sort of abracadabra formation of letters that seemed appropriate. I tried a few variations and when I showed my kids they immediately said, "A lotta' apes try?" Doh! They're grounded again.

Thanks to my kids' keen observation about the unfortunate accidental word formations in the earlier draft, I reworked things and flipped the pyramid for a design that would flow well with the proportions of a human body. Note to artists: drawing at its best is a solitary endeavor but it's sometimes a good idea to float your concepts past neutral eyes to get critical feedback that often strengthens your design. Especially the neutral eyes of cruel teenagers that don't mind ripping your ass apart.

Next, I took a bunch of hard drugs and went on a vision quest in the desert for 14 days. Just kidding. Instead, I penciled this sketch to make sure the symmetry and dimensions were approximately pleasing to the eye before hitting it with ink. I say "approximately" because I obviously never use rulers, Photoshop or even graph paper in the execution stage so almost everything I draw is slightly crooked, off-center and mathematically impossible. Get over it.

Here's a raw scan of the final inked art. The typography is based on the beautiful work of Rick Griffin, pioneer of the American rock poster and one of my heroes of post World War II art. I used a Micron .05 and black Sharpie to keep it clean and scanned it into Photoshop to adjust the contrast a bit before sending it along to the printer who worked his own special magic with silver metallic ink...

Most artists probably get scantily clad ladies to model their merchandise. I got this guy. Jed Bindeman is a drummer, prism light traveler and generally nice dude. It's psychedelic pizza time!

Here's a nice close up of the finished shirt. Definitely not as cool as the 5,000 people occupying Wall Street this week but it turned out pretty sweet and, as my daughter was pleased to announce, "Finally, you did a shirt I can wear to school!" Everyone's happy. If you happen to live across the pond near merry ol' Birmingham you can judge these galactic derelicts for yourself at the Supersonic Festival where they'll be performing along with Secret Chiefs 3, Scorn, Zombi, Turbonegro and Electric Wizard!

Until next time...

ride the silver machine and keep feeling mean!

UNSEEN FORCES UPDATE

2011-10-01T02:29:00.001-07:00

UNSEEN FORCES is pleased to herald the fourth offering: ASTAROTH. Available October 31, 2011 in a very limited 7" 45rpm edition and not to be repressed. "SATAN IS COMING..."

BENEFIT FOR S. CLAY WILSON!

2011-09-30T18:28:00.001-07:00

October 1st

8pm
The Escapist Comic Bookstore
3090 Claremont Ave

Berkeley, California

If you live anywhere near the Bay Area be sure to visit The Escapist Comic Bookstore this Saturday for a very special event to benefit S. Clay Wilson! Wilson's longtime pal Spain Rodriguez and author/historian Dan Fogel will be signing copies of the new book The Snatch Comics Treasury! Also promised is a special live auction consisting of limited signed editions, donated original art (both published and created on the spot) by Spain and other special guests including Dan O'Neill and Mark Bode! If you don't live in the area, you can donate directly to S. Clay Wilson's Special Needs Trust at:

www.sclaywilsontrust.com

Bass Solo, Take 25.

2011-09-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

Today we honor the 25th anniversary of Cliff Burton's premature discharge from this sanitarium Earth. You all know the story and the impact this young dude had on metal so I won't wax poetic here except to say that I didn't get to see Metallica until 1988 so never had the opportunity to see him perform live. Bummer. Hail to Cliff Burton!

ALL MURDER! ALL GUTS! ALL FUN!

2011-09-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

As many of you have probably already heard, DANZIG has announced a brief string of U.S. tour dates featuring sets with original SAMHAIN members and original MISFITS guitarist Doyle! How do I feel about this? Scroll down and imagine a De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas shirt on Casper and that's how I feel. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that I'm a devoted disciple of very specific periods of Glenn Danzig's creative legacy, but those periods run roughly from 1977 through 1990 which is a respectable run by any standards. I saw DANZIG for the first time at The Ritz in NYC in December 1988 and, through a string of incredible coincidences and good fortune, was escorted backstage immediately after their performance where I had the privilege of meeting Glenn, Chuck Biscuits, Eerie Von and John Christ in a swampy room no bigger than a coffin. I was a 16 year old dork in a Tales From The Crypt t-shirt and had no real reason to find myself stammering in their dressing room. Glenn could've crushed my soul in his black leather grip and driven me back into the cold New York night like an acid-washed archangel cast out of the Kingdom. Instead he told me my shirt was cool and invited me to have a seat. He tried talking horror movies and comics but I was mostly speechless and dumb. I vividly recall a lady kneeling in front of Eerie Von, running her long red nails over his forearm as if it was a massive cock and whispering, "You have such beautiful veins..." Eerie's affect was decidedly flat. At some point Chuck Biscuits grabbed a promotional poster and started drawing one of his crazy cartoons on it while discussing the night's set in his distinctive self-effacing Canuck drawl. He passed it around and one by one the band signed this little relic and treated me like the very special and deserving dude that I most certainly was not. Ever since that evening I've fiercely defended Glenn from the non-believers and shit talkers. Did he take a few missteps? Sure. Until Deth Red Sabaoth was released in 2010 I hadn't paid much attention to anything he'd done since Danzig III: How The Gods Kill. Once he started wearing rubber shirts and praising bands like KORN I simply could no longer walk among him. The last time I saw him perform was on Halloween night in 1990 at the Capital Theater in Port Chester, New York. After having seen him in the frenzied intimate environs of a little club called Streets just a year earlier, this Halloween gig was a mandatory-seating bummer and he stubbornly refused to pull out the vintage treats that would've perfectly suited the occasion. So this LEGACY tour is a wonderful thing! The internet is proof enough that truly nothing is sacred- certainly not the brilliant MISFITS and SAMHAIN songs of my youth- and I would be delighted to witness these songs performed in a live setting no matter how questionable the motivations for reuniting in 2011. Problem is, Glenn unwisely neglected to schedule any dates in the fucking Northwest so there's really only one question: who's flying me to Los Angeles on Halloween???

BURIAL GROUND

2011-09-19T01:10:00.001-07:00

"Mother...this cloth smells of death."

Hold onto your scythes! Portland Grindhouse returns tomorrow night with a rare 35mm print of the sleazy Italian chunk blower masterpiece BURIAL GROUND (a.k.a., Le Notti Del Terrore)! Andrea Bianchi's quintessential but still largely unsung zombie opus was filmed in 1980 (released in 1981) but looks a lot more like the deep 70's, with plenty of tucked-in turtlenecks, greasy mustaches, saturated colors and rapist innuendos such as the classic line, "You look just like a little whore...but I like that in a girl." Despite all the messy gut munching, worm infested orifices and bite wound money shots, the single most memorable thing about this film is the absolutely terrifying performance by Peter Bark. You know who I'm talking about. This dude looks like a Dario Argento puppet that someone left in the dryer too long. To make matters worse, he's incongruously cast as a prepubescent mama's boy despite looking like a 35 year old midget. Before he "turns" and casts his beady little man-eyes on you and even before he cannibalizes his mother's pasty teet in one of cinema's most outrageously Oedipal moments, Bark's shrill voice and wretched fashion will curdle your blood! The zombies are great in this one as well; clay-caked and bucktoothed with tattered funeral sackcloth that you can almost smell through the celluloid! They move slow, the way reanimated corpses should, though not as slow as their moronic human victims and they use agricultural hand tools to great gory effect. Especially poetic is the slow motion beheading that will leave you wondering, "Why didn't she just move and close the window?" After all, she had five agonizing minutes to contemplate the reaping. My solution to such gaping "plot holes" and occasionally moribund pacing is simple: more beer. Which is fortuitous because Hollywood Theater serves up a fine assemblage of Northwest microbrews (I really should get free admission for this). Another reason to drag your ass out of the house this week is the fantastic synth score, truly one of the strangest soundtracks from this era, which I imagine will sound even more unsettling when piped out of multiple speakers in the dark! There's a bootleg floating around on vinyl but don't be fooled. It's actually just the audio track of the film and doesn't really do this queasy Mediterranean Moog madness the justice it deserves. By the way, the Youtube teaser below pretty much shows the whole damn movie so if you want to avoid "spoilers", just skip to the Terrorizer clip and remember the days when David Vincent didn't look like a Chucky doll stuffed in a rubber "satanist" suit. Eat acid and expect vomit.

Tuesday September 20

7:30pm

Hollywood Theater

4122 NE Sandy Blvd.

Portland, Goregon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM STOUT!

2011-09-18T00:59:00.000-07:00

SEND MORE COPS!

The Unstoppable Artistry of William Stout

I've often used this blog to eulogize fallen comrades who have exited this world and, in their passing, left it a duller less imaginative place. But today I am glad to celebrate the life of a hugely influential artist who is still very much alive and kicking. Today we send warm birthday wishes to William Stout! You probably don’t realize it, but your mind has already been invaded by Mr. Stout's fantastic and downright ubiquitous art. In a career spanning more than four decades, the tireless creative whirlwind with the bandana around his neck has applied his talents to such a broad array of cherished cultural detritus that to accurately summarize his resume would require more than a simple blog post. If you doubt that his masterful design, technical brilliance and versatile stylistic repertoire have already completely colonized your imagination, consider this: the man storyboarded Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and First Blood (1982). He designed creatures for Predator (1987), Invaders From Mars (1986) and The Mist (2007). He provided production design for Conan The Barbarian in 1982 (yes, and Conan The Destroyer in 1984), The Hitcher (1986), House (1986), Masters of the Universe (1987), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Return of The Living Dead (1985) and more than 20 other films that have embedded themselves into your hippocampus like so many rabid weasels. He even worked on Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, which is undoubtedly why all that undead disco shuffling looked so badass! Stout is also an accomplished comic and poster artist, theme park designer, writer, amateur paleontologist, conservationist, lecturer, convention circuit celebrity, father and devoted husband. Sorta makes you feel like a slack-jawed slow zombie, doesn’t it? Attentive headbangers may recognize traces of Stout’s swiped artwork on underground releases by such cherished acts as Autopsy, whose highly sought double live 7” Tortured Moans of Agony features a blown-out reproduction of a design sketch Stout created for Return of The Living Dead (lovingly known as the "Half-Corpse"), and Cryptic Slaughter who unceremoniously added a Mohican to Stout’s drawing for the early 80’s horror comic Twisted Tales and used it for their Banned in S.M. cover art. Stout’s iconic poster art for Ralph Bakshi’s 1977 animated classic Wizards (the very first commercial movie poster of his career!) wielded noticeable influence on a young artist named Michel Langevin who in turn gave Stout’s rendering of the character Necron 99 something of a Tarkus overhaul for the debut 1983 Voivod demo Anachronism. The tendrils of Stout’s creative legacy have indeed slithered into seemingly every dark recess of popular culture. Even now there is a gentle tugging in your skull as his forward-looking nostalgia takes control. Yes, you may not have known him by name but the prolific and frequently “uncredited” talent known as William Stout had his creative fingers in your grey matter long before you became the liver damaged cretin stumbling over these words. Today we celebrate his 62nd birthday and acknowledge the fact that he has absolutely no intentions of letting up. Resistance is futile!

Here is Stout's original drawing for the reader mail page of Twisted Tales comic, circa 1982.

And here is Stout's unofficially "punked" drawing as it appears on Cryptic Slaughter's Banned in S.M. release.

Dennis Dread: You've been around long enough to see technology completely change the arts and film industry. I'm curious how you think accessible technology such as the Internet might be affecting our imaginations as a species?

William Stout: Like all new technology, there are good aspects and bad aspects. I think the main bad aspect is that the internet encourages laziness. I often find myself tempted not to do research beyond what I’ve found on the internet. Until I started using Google Images I pretty much knew where almost every single image was in my vast reference library that I might need for a project. Not anymore. I’ve forgotten most of that information because I rarely use my reference library now. Most of what I need can be found through Google. A narrowing of information can unknowingly limit one’s imagination. I think that’s both foolish and dangerous. I think the main good aspect is the phenomenal access we have to people, information and images from around the world. This access can provide enormous inspiration to our imaginations.

One of the many qualities I've always admired about your work is how effortless it appears. You really make drawing look easy! Do you stress at the drawing table or does it really come as easy as it appears?

The trick with all great art is making the enormous amount of work that goes into each piece not show- to make it look like it just happened- creating the illusion of effortlessness. I totally stress over a lot of my stuff. I don’t draw nearly as well as I think I should. I am constantly checking my art, revising it, simplifying it where I can, stressing when I can’t…Most great artists I know are their own harshest critics. The public has no idea how much we demean and critically rip apart the things we create. That’s why when given a compliment about a particular piece the artist may seem less than enthusiastic. Often the artist looks at his picture and just sees its flaws.

Stout did this brilliant portrait of Robert Johnson just a few years ago, in a style similar to Robert Crumb on his Heroes of the Blues collector cards.

You devote a great deal of time and energy to research before diving into a project, for instance your anatomical studies for Return of the Living Dead and your firsthand field research in Antarctica. I'm reminded how guys like Harvey Kurtzman and later Jack Jackson would delve into obscure history to inform and enrich their comic narratives. Was Kurtzman's intense work ethic an early influence?

Absolutely. I call it the “Kurtzman Curse”. Since working with Kurtzman & Elder on Little Annie Fanny I have become obsessive about authenticity. Kurtzman never assumed knowledge. Even though he may have drawn a particular hand position thousands of times, he would always pose his other hand and draw it from life as if it were the first time he was seeing it in that pose. One day I had to draw a fire hydrant for a scene in Annie. I drew it from memory. Harvey looked at and said, “Let’s go outside.” We left the studio and found an actual fire hydrant. Harvey pointed out the subtle details I had forgotten. I sketched the hydrant on the spot, then brought my sketch back to the studio and redrew the hydrant in the strip from my visual notes. It’s little things like that that add so much to what we do and take it to the next level of quality.

"I can feel myself rot." Autopsy 7" featuring Stout's uncredited design sketch for the "Half Corpse" from Return of the Living Dead.

Original Stout design sketch of the Tar Man!

On average, how would you break down your time on a typical project from research, to sketches, to final product?

I have no typical projects. Every job is different. I’ll draw a T-shirt design one day, a comic book cover the next, followed by some theme park design, after which I’ll create a creature for a movie. I love being a freelancer; I’m never bored. In trying to answer your question, however, I spend about 10-20% of my time coming up with a concept and design I like, another 20-40% of my time on research and about 40-60% of my time on the finish. Penciling is slow (my pencils are very detailed), inking is faster, and coloring I can do very quickly. Typically, with an 18” x 24” oil painting I spend Day One doing thumbnails, laying in the picture’s values (dark & light systems) in umber and painting the local color to establish the painting’s color scheme. On Day Two I go back and forth between drawing and painting on the canvas, constantly refining the picture. On Day Three I continue with the draw-paint-draw-paint and then take a few hours to add the finishing touches.

You've frequently referred to yourself as a political conservative but I think perhaps our generations have very different understandings of what that means. Can you illuminate your political perspective, how it has evolved and how it might influence your art?

I describe myself as a conservative primarily because I believe in conserving. I feel it is our responsibility as citizens to conserve our nation’s beauty- which includes Nature’s beauty as represented by our wildlife and undeveloped lands- and to conserve its cultural traditions like regional cooking, for example, which is rapidly disappearing and being replaced by uninspired, unhealthy and homogenous fast food. I believe in fighting for the rapidly disappearing traditions of manners and intelligent discourse. I am appalled by the so-called “news” channels that seem to have abandoned their responsibilities in delivering solid news to the public in favor of mindless talking heads chatting and opining about the news. I’m a strong supporter of our National Parks system, one of the best ideas America ever had. I strongly support old-fashioned ideals like the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and separation of Church and State. I was appalled by the passing of the Patriot Act and am still appalled that any aspect of this attack on our fundamental liberties is still being implemented. I think monopolies are a terrible idea but in recent times our government seems to have embraced them and protected them instead of fighting them. I see the acquisition and consolidation of different media into colossal media conglomerates as one of the most dangerous aspects of our current culture. I believe that what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedroom should be nobody’s business but their own. Gays in the military? Not even an issue; there have always been gays in the military. I guess I could best be described as a Teddy Roosevelt or Barry Goldwater conservative Republican, which nowadays seems to put me way to the left of the wackos that seem to be dominating the GOP’s public discourse. As a strong environmentalist (which I see as a conservative issue), a lot of the art I create is political, as it is created to generate public awareness as to what we might be losing. I try to use my art subversively to begin conversations as to how things like our world’s beautiful untamed lands and wildlife might be preserved and protected.

Slow Death #7 featuring Stout cover art, circa 1977.

Speaking of subversion, you were sort of on the margins of the late 1960’s underground comix scene and made a successful leap into more mainstream commercial work relatively quickly. How were you received by the more transgressive artists of that era?

Although I was a latecomer to the underground scene- although my first underground comic, Those Loveable Peace-Nuts, was published in 1967- I was fully embraced by comix artists like Robert Williams, Rick Griffin, Spain Rodriguez…well, all of the Zap guys, I guess…plus folks like Trina Robbins and Richard Corben. Despite my mainstream work, I’ve never stopped being subversive. I created the Mickey at 60 underground comic, for example, while I was working as a full time consultant for Walt Disney Imagineering.

Have you ever been concerned with the sort of underground notion of "selling out"? Is there any work that you might refuse on principles of personal ethics?

I think there’s a real difference between making decent or good money and “selling out”. I think artists tend to undervalue their work. I’ve fought for artists’ rights for a long time. I give free business lectures to young artists. Just because you’re being paid well for your work doesn’t mean you’ve sold out. I made up my mind a long time ago (with some nudging from my friend Jean “Moebius” Giraud) to assess each job that comes my way and refuse to do it if it is detrimental to our society or if it does not benefit our society in some way. I won’t do any tobacco advertising, for example. I won’t do anything that encourages or supports the harming of children or animals. I have to be able to look my kids in the eyes and at myself in the mirror.

Stout's beautiful and iconic poster art for Ralph Bakshi's Wizards!

And here is Michel "Away" Langevin's killer drawing for the debut Voivod demo! Away is certainly no hack but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to recognize Stout's influence on his composition here. Fuck, I LOVE this drawing!

You've worked within the high-stakes entertainment industry for several decades and yet you seem to have retained your integrity and credibility as an artist. So many others seem to get chewed up and spit out by the competitiveness of the industry but you don't seem bitter or jaded at this stage of your career. What has been your secret to longevity in the field?

I don’t seem bitter or jaded? We need to talk more…

Actually, there are two main things that get me through all the Hollywood/Show Biz bullshit. One is my sense of self worth. Artists think that if they roll over and give in during a contract negotiation that the producer will consider the artist to be a good guy and that it will aid the artist in getting the job. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you are in negotiations, you are playing the producer’s game. If you immediately buckle under then you’re playing that game poorly --- you look like a schmuck in the producer’s eyes. He loses respect for you. If you’re clever and present a strong case for your side of the negotiation…well, that’s something a producer admires. You are playing his game well. The second thing is even more important: my sense of humor. In fact, when I’m functioning as the production designer on a film, if you don’t have a strong sense of humor, I won’t hire you. I’ve found it’s the way-too-serious people who always crack under pressure. A great joke or witty remark at the right time is sometimes all a situation needs to break the tension on the set and relieve some of that pressure.

Your promotional art for Steve Miner's film House (1986) was something of a nod to your earlier frontispiece for Slow Death #7 (1977) with the zombie soldier reading a comic in a war-torn alley. Was that an intentional reference or am I just a hopeless nerd for noticing the similarity?

Hopeless nerd, I’m afraid [Doh!]. I draw lots of zombies (especially lately) and, because I’m the guy drawing them, they tend to have a similarity in style. You might have noticed that most of the zombies I draw look like they’re having a good time, too. So, there’s that similarity as well. And both zombies you mentioned are wearing Army uniforms. In both cases, that look was part of the solution to each picture’s visual problems. Nothing more was intended.

Frontispiece art for Slow Death #7. I love the clean lettering and powerful cinematic chiaroscuro technique he achieves with this one! It's no surprise that he would soon make the leap into Hollywood and carve out a wonderful career for himself.

I thought I was on to something here but, as it turns out, I'm just a hopeless nerd.

Do dinosaurs tell us anything about the future of the planet or our own evolution as a species?

They do if we’re paying attention. I always laugh when people refer to dinosaurs as failures. The human race should be so lucky to have such longevity! One hundred million years! We’ll be fortunate to survive a decent fraction of that.

What do you think of the late Greg Irons' dinosaur artwork?

I thought Greg’s stuff was terrific. He was very conscientious in his reconstructions. Irons was being advised by a fine paleontologist, my pal Rob Long. Greg’s stuff inspired several pieces in my book The Dinosaurs – A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era. He was a dear friend; I miss Greg a lot. Irons was one of the first artists I met who knew the value of his work. I respected him for that, even though it meant I couldn’t afford some of the pieces I wanted to buy.

Here is just one example of the late and very great Greg Irons' dinosaur illustrations that I found online. If I have time I'll scan some better images from his children's coloring books. R.I.P.

And here is a fantastic example of Stout's amazing dinosaur illustrations, perhaps showing a bit of Frazetta influence in the foreground composition and detail.

You were commissioned by the Chinese government to design a dinosaur museum in Zigong, China. How is that developing? Is the museum open to the public yet?

Honestly, I do a job like designing a theme park and then move on to the next gig. I don’t keep track of whether or not they’re made unless I get called back to do some more work on them. I’m pretty sure they built the museum; Zigong is a huge Chinese tourist destination. I don’t know how many (if any) of my concepts and designs were used.

Do you still visit Antarctica regularly?

I try. Friend and paleontologist Bill Hammer (he discovered Cryolophosaurus, the first dinosaur discovered on mainland Antarctica) keeps promising to take me on a dinosaur dig in Antarctica, but the logistics and funding always seem to fall through at the last minute. Plus, I need to clear away some work time for such a trip as well as stockpile a bunch of dough for my wife to live on for the months I’m away and not earning any income. I am determined to get back ASAP, however. It’s been awhile and I need to finish my Antarctica book.

For more insight into William Stout’s artwork and production design be sure to grab a copy of The Comics Journal (Winter 2003) and The Complete History of The Return of the Living Dead by Christian Sellers and Gary Smart published by Plexus (2010)! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILL!

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT!

2011-09-15T16:09:00.001-07:00

SAVAGE ~~LAST~~ WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End on SEPTEMBER 28! Heavy vinyl worship from 9pm until 2am. This month will be S-A-V-A-G-E! How do I know? Because I'll be playing Nasty Savage, Savage Thrust and Savage Grace records. If you scream "GOLEM!" loud enough I might even play some Protector. As usual you can expect cheap drinks, good food, no bullshit and no cover. See you soon...

September 28, 2011

"IF YOU ARE A FALSE...DON'T ENTRY!"

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE INNSMOUTH

2011-09-02T17:02:00.001-07:00

THE STARS ARE RIGHT! I shall be spilling absinthe all over my precious vinyl for your listening pleasure this Monday night at Portland's very own Cthulhu themed nightclub The Lovecraft. My lovely friend and demonic muse Malice is back in town for a few days and we intend to CELEBRATE! Malice and DJ Horrid will be providing goth and industrial while I oppress the dance floor with horror soundtracks, heavy metal and velvet rape. Cum as you are...

THE LOVECRAFT

421 Southeast Grand Avenue

Portland, Oregon

9pm-2am

"...stir the dormant sense of strangeness."

UNSEEN FORCES UPDATE

2011-09-01T12:58:00.001-07:00

I'm delighted to announce some exciting UNSEEN FORCES news today! The devastating debut DEATHCHARGE LP is NOW available at UNSEEN FORCES! No "die hard" edition, colored vinyl or novelty props to make you feel special or elite (you're not). We intend to keep this amazing record in print and affordable for as long as possible. Dark funeral punk with raw Discharge aggression and Christian Death atmospheres. One of the year's best has arrived!

I can also now reveal that the next UNSEEN FORCES release will be the official re-issue of THE LAW None Escape. Originally issued in 1983 in an extremely limited pressing and now commanding hefty prices when it surfaces online, we've lovingly dusted off this rare jewel and pressed it to 180 gram vinyl so that it can be discovered and enjoyed again in its proper medium. Fans of The Rods, Oz, Blue Cheer and Buffalo will experience a familiar throbbing between the legs. Chill the wine and learn more here.

More UNSEEN FORCES updates coming soon!

PRIME DIRECTIVE: EXTERMINATE

2011-08-30T00:59:00.001-07:00

I finally got around to coloring that Glenn Danzig portrait I sketched a few months ago. Had a lot of fun with this and you're in luck because I'm raffling off the original 11" x 17" painting for my one year anniversary of Last Wednesday On The Left tomorrow night! You get a free raffle ticket just for walking in the door and there's no cover so even if you're broke you've got a chance at owning an original piece of art. Why, it's almost like Halloween.

PSYCHOMANIA!

2011-08-27T17:33:00.001-07:00

"Seven suicides- and they roared back as The Living Dead!"

Portland Grindhouse returns to Hollywood Theater this Tuesday with a rare 35mm print of the 1973 undead biker classic PSYCHOMANIA! This is a beautifully filmed Hammer-style occult romp that boasts amphibious psychedelia, genuinely risky high-speed chases, an occasionally fantastic soundtrack and a gateway to the grave...and back! The silver-spooned leader of a decidedly wimpy British biker gang called The Living Dead figures out how to cheat death- with the help of his mom, naturally- and his crew of puffs soon break on through to th' other side only to return as mild mannered reanimated blokes (and a bird) with dapper uniforms, go-go boots and the most unforgettable headgear since Astro Zombies (1968). The fact that these outlaw bikers wear helmets at all is telling but they up the unconvincing ante with flowers, stilted slang, decent hygiene and general peacenik funeral etiquette. Terry the Tramp would be displeased. Nonetheless, this amazing film caused its share of moral panic upon its initial release as The Death Wheelers and endures as a testimony to what only rarely happens when square producers attempt to cash in on popular youth trends. It is a nearly perfect exploitation fusion that milks the biker film cash cow (waning financially by 1973), hippy counterculture (also moribund by '73) and the always lucrative horror genre. Much like Werewolves On Wheels (1971), another unlikely exploitation hybrid, Psychomania never quite delivers on its bloody promises but manages to become something altogether unexpected and no less brilliantly entertaining in the process. It also features the final on-screen performance by George Sanders, the prolific British dandy perhaps best remembered from Village of the Damned and the impeccably sinister voice of Shere Kahn in Disney's 1967 Jungle Book. Increasingly bitter and in poor health, Sanders committed suicide just a few months after the release of Psychomania and, according to wikipedia, exited this mortal coil with characteristic pomp and anemic wit:

"Dear World,

I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck."

Sometimes they come back. Sometimes they don't.

PSYCHOMANIA

Tuesday August 30th

7:30pm

4122 NE Sandy Blvd.

Portland, Oregon

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

2011-08-14T14:01:00.001-07:00

August marks the one year anniversary of my monthly DJ gig LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT! For the past year I've been dutifully dragging records down to Portland's East End on the last Wednesday of every month and presiding over rituals of heavy vinyl worship. The event has slowly grown from an empty room to an alcoholic communion of potlatch proportions (in an empty room) and I'm celebrating this month with an appropriately self-destructive purging. Everyone who walks in the door on August 31 will receive one free ticket for the midnight raffle. Additional tickets can be purchased at the DJ booth for $2 and winners will be announced at midnight. Prizes include vintage vinyl, shirts, comics, art prints and an original Dennis Dread drawing! If you don't reside in Portland but wish to take a stab at owning an original work of art, you can purchase 2 tickets for $5 via PAYPAL to dennisdread@hotmail.com (4 tickets for $10, 6 tickets for $15, etc, etc...get it?). Your name will be written on your tickets and added to the midnight raffle cauldron. Out-of-town winners will be contacted on September 1 to coordinate shipping. If you have never come out to LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT, this is the perfect opportunity! I know, I know. Your boyfriend's band is playing the same night across town and it's a week night and you have to work the next morning. Guess what? We all have to work the next morning! Don't be a weak knight. See you there...

AUGUST 31, 2011

"YOUR EARS WILL PISS THEIR PANTS!"

DESTROYING ANGELS #10 AVAILABLE ON E-BAY!

2011-08-04T17:41:00.001-07:00

Some of you have contacted me about hunting down a copy of DESTROYING ANGELS #10. Of course it is long gone through me but Crucial Blast still has a few copies available on e-bay at a reasonable cost. This hand-assembled monster was originally self-published in August 2010 and comes with 3-D front & back covers, 3-D glasses and a polypropylene bag for easy storage. In-depth interviews with acclaimed American artist Joseph A. Smith (creator of the legendary Bathory goat), Ray Zone (the undisputed King of 3-D artwork), French cartoonist Julien "Nagawika" Le Guennec (of Morbid Tales zine and Hellbent For Cooking infamy) and amazing Polish-born artist Jowita Kaminska (of Italy's Metal On Metal recordings)! Also features a massive biography on obscure underground comix artist Jim Osborne, showcasing a wild assortment of his macabre out-of-print masterpieces from the late 60's and 70's. Plus a tribute to legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, reader art and more! 50 pages (8.5" x 11") and full color covers!

BUY IT NOW!

DEEP RED

2011-08-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

TONIGHT! Portland, Oregon's Hollywood Theater is screening a rare 35mm print of Dario Argento's classic DEEP RED! One night only! Come for the mechanical puppet, stay for the brilliant Goblin soundtrack. Show starts at 7:30. "You will NEVER forget it!!!"

Taste and Corruption

2011-07-31T17:09:00.000-07:00

"The search for humor should not be regarded...simply as an evasion of or escape from the realities of life; it [is] also a positive attempt to create joy & pleasure around everyday events, as well as a rebellion against the restrictions of morality & prudence. As such, it deserves to have its achievements recorded quite as much as the more long-term efforts of the legislators & educators, whose success was perhaps not as great."

~Theodor Zeldin
From Taste & Corruption as quoted in David Kunzle's The History of the Comic Strip

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT!

2011-07-19T10:59:00.001-07:00

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End on JULY 27! Heavy vinyl worship from 9pm until 2am. I'm excited to announce that Xander Harris from Texas will be performing downstairs and if you haven't already checked out this dude's creepy disco-synth jams, you're in for a treat! Imagine Claudio Simonetti and Wendy Carlos hopped up on phenobarbital at an Italian giallo rave. I'm pulling out my vintage horror soundtracks for the occasion so wear your black leather gloves! See you there...

JULY 27, 2011

"IF YOU ARE A FALSE...DON'T ENTRY!"

ROCTOBER #49

2011-07-14T17:53:00.001-07:00

The new issue of Roctober just arrived in my po box and it's a smoker! The theme for issue #49 is "livin' in the 80's" and editor Jacob Austen did a bang up job assembling deeply informative interviews with Glenn Danzig, The Zero Boys (from which this issue takes its subtitle), The Knots, TSOL, Captain Sky, Boyd Rice and a bunch of other cool shit you probably don't know much about. The Danzig article features some of my drawings and writing and, I have to admit, they look pretty sweet on newsprint! So get off Facebook and Twitter and support a REAL magazine that you can hold in your hands and read on the bus. You can even roll it up real tight and shove it into the trachea of the next dude you spot updating his profile status while a band is playing. Isn't that worth $4?

BORN TO LOSE, LIVE TO WIN!

2011-07-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

Ladies & Gentlemen...we have a WINNER! Only two people posted guesses in 24 hours (which gives you a pretty accurate idea how many people read this blog) and the correct answer to our contest is indeed Mr. Stevo Dobbins of IMPETIGO! As you can see below, Stevo drew this masterpiece for the very first issue of his zine Uni-Force back in 1986. The prize goes to Rueben Storey of Olympia, Washington, which is great because not only is he a big Impetigo fan but now if I ever need to borrow my shirt back I can just give Reuben a call. Win/win. Congratulations, Reuben. Don't let anyone say totally useless trivia won't get you free stuff. It just did.

ULTIMO MONDO CONTESTO!

2011-07-09T09:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who made this year's art exhibition such a success! Now that CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED is officially closed, I will slither back into the dungeon and focus on my own artwork once again. If I owe you artwork, thanks for your patience. It's coming soon! In the meantime, the sun has finally returned to the Northwest and I'm feeling rather festive this morning so...it's CONTEST TIME again! This one is pretty easy so pay attention, slobs. Do you remember the crossover days? Some cranky old fucks will tell you that crossover ruined punk and diluted metal. But for a very brief period during the late 80's, acronyms were suddenly all the rage and the melding of these previously segregated genres resulted in some of the most violent and undeniably enjoyable music of the decade. This old drawing of skinheads, punks and 'bangers all thrashing together sums things up pretty well. So here's your mission: the first person to correctly identify the artist who drew this outrageous display of mosh unity back in 1986 wins a very special prize. Just be the first person to post the correct answer and your mailing address as a comment and I will send you my original Impetigo long sleeve shirt with band logo running down one sleeve, Wild Rags logo running down the other sleeve and hot pink ULTIMO MONDO CANNIBALE title emblazoned across the back! You'll impress all the posers this summer when you strut down to the rock & roll BBQ in your very own "vintage" metal shirt! And you won't have to sheepishly admit that you paid top dollar for your credibility on e-bay. Don't say I never gave you anything...

EAST END BLOCK PARTY PICS!

2011-07-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

East End Block Party! I realize this looks like a Rainbow Gathering but I assure you it did not sound like one. Or smell like one.

A bunch of people took these picture so...thanks for the pictures!

CLOSING RECEPTION THIS FRIDAY!

2011-07-03T01:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all you rabid fanatics and shock troops who continue to visit CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED, Black Water has very graciously extended the exhibition through this week. We are excited to announce the CLOSING RECEPTION PARTY this Friday JULY 8th from 6pm-11pm! If you missed the opening reception, be sure to come down this Friday and see the show before it is gone forever. $3 admission covers all you can drink until the keg runs dry...

BLACK WATER GALLERY

1925 SE Morrison

Portland, Oregon

(parking & entrance in the back)

UNSEEN FORCES UPDATE

2011-07-01T12:56:00.001-07:00

Check out Chanel Adair's new artwork for the debut DEATHCHARGE LP! Posted now at UNSEEN FORCES!

EAST END BLOCK PARTY!

2011-06-30T02:50:00.001-07:00

I'll be spinning records all motherfuckin' day this Sunday JULY 3 for the 2nd Annual East End Block Party! It's outdoors, starts at 3pm and there's a bunch of bands playing, but mostly you'll want to come see how drunk revelers react to Jay Chattaway's Maniac soundtrack. Do you wanna party? It's party time...

DEATH TRIP

2011-06-27T16:10:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you have a weekend that is so insanely spectacular that all you can do is shut up and add "photo journalist" to your resume...

Original Abscess artwork by Spike Milliken.

Chris Reifert with my original Dark Crusades artwork.

Original hand-painted banner by Kent Mathieu, circa 1993.

Slaughter By The Water.

Torn From The Set List.

"How will you know that you're the...LAST MAN ALIVE???"

"Atlanta is burning down!"

"We are always about to die..."

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT!

2011-06-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End on JUNE 29! Heavy vinyl worship from 9pm until 2am. This month I'm blasting the new AUTOPSY double LP in its entirety in celebration of...DEATH METAL SURVIVAL!!!!! And so I can hang out with my friends without switching records constantly. See you there...

JUNE 29, 2011

Special thanks to the anonymous reader who caught the typo in my last post. There are five Wednesdays in June so we got confused...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

2011-06-19T00:10:00.000-07:00

BONDED BY BLOOD!

Art Show Review!

2011-06-12T15:32:00.002-07:00

I was strolling through Google Images this afternoon looking at all the classy photos of Seth Putnam when I somehow stumbled across this funny review of the art opening written by my pal Ian Smith (weird, somehow all roads on the Internet lead back to...ME!). Ian managed to get a decent shot of the Weregoat stage so I'm re-posting it here in case you're too lazy to click the link and read the actual article (you have lowered the bar once again with your non-existent comments, dear reader).

And by the way, here's my Seth Putnam story...
Way back in 1994 I was stumbling through the streets of New Orleans on Fat Tuesday and managed to make it over to the Dixie Tavern where Eyehategod was fixin' to perform their hits for the locals (mostly unsavory crack dealers and undernourished hookers). I had already been celebrating for days and some sympathetic comrade let me catch a nap in the Sour Vein van before the show. I'm not entirely sure what happened next but I awoke suddenly- some unknown length of time later- and quickly inhaled my last short breath of air. The van was on fire and completely filled with thick black smoke. I groped my way through the toxic plume and made an attempt to escape but, naturally, the inside door handle was missing. My hand landed on a bare screw where the handle should have been. Desperately, I rolled the window down manually and plopped out onto the street like a derelict abortion with flaming afterbirth (there's a potential new drawing there). This spectacle fortunately caught the attention of the Buzzoven dudes who were milling around outside the venue and immediately rushed over to help stomp out the flames. You know you're in real trouble when Buzzoven comes to your rescue. Somehow the plastic engine cover between the driver and passenger seats had caught fire while I lay comatose in the rear. I can only guess that at some point someone had unscrupulously left a lit cigarette on the engine well and it eventually ignited the plastic which dripped and bubbled in thick carcinogenic rivulets like Steve West's face in The Incredible Melting Man.

As we were stomping out the flames from both sides of the van, the back doors sprung open and out fell a couple of haplessly entwined lovers that I didn't even know had been passed out behind all the gear the whole time. They blinked dumbly into the hazy night and lit cigarettes to calm their nerves. Within minutes the flames were extinguished and someone handed me a flask to wash the acrid taste of smoke from my throat as the first notes of Eyehategod erupted from the tavern across the street. We slammed the doors of the still smoldering van and raced inside the club, me reeking like a terrible campfire with a filthy soot covered face that had all the local Oliver Twist scumfuc types frowning with envy, just as the band squealed and buzzed to twisted life. What does any of this have to do with Seth Putnam? Well, Mike Williams was living up in New York with Alicia 13 at the time so Jimmy Bower and the boys had Seth on vocals that night. He unceremoniously threw a chair at the audience to get things started and the rest of the event was a violent blur. I think the Hickey dudes may have been there too but maybe I'm just making shit up now. Anyway, it was a very memorable night (so memorable in fact that here I am retelling it all these years later for absolutely no reason) and I'll always associate Seth Putnam's shitbag antics with my own near death experience in that seething southern ghetto.

OPENING RECEPTION!

2011-06-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to Black Water Gallery last night for the opening reception of CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED! It was a truly spectacular evening. For those of you who couldn't make it, the exhibition will remain on display all month and is open to the public every day of the week from noon until 6pm. Contact the gallery to make sure they're open before you make the trip. We are also planning a special closing reception with most of the artwork available for sale. Updates coming soon! Summary: 14 artists, 70 pieces of artwork, two drills, 1 keg of beer, several bottles of vodka, 1 stage, 6 goat skulls, lots of blood and a chocolate cake...

This is what the space looked like when we descended upon it Wednesday morning. The first step was a fresh coat of black paint...

Black Water proprietor Keith Testerman went above and beyond the call of duty to help me convert his dusty D.I.Y. punk venue into a fine art gallery complete with beautiful track lighting and a full bar. Unfortunately, once the doors opened we didn't have much time to photograph the enthusiastic crowd...

Weregoat war ritual.

Photo by Anna Wilson.

After all, it was a birthday...

The cult is alive!

CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED...TONIGHT!

2011-06-02T11:03:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday. And the opening reception of my latest curated group art exhibition at Black Water Gallery in southeast Portland, Oregon. See what I did there? I just threw myself the best birthday party I could possibly ask for...and spent the past 12 hours in a cloud of cheap paint fumes and the company of a few close friends making sure it all looks perfect. All you hollow dogs who crave the afterglow of "celebrity" attention and the intoxication of scene ascension can fuck off. The rest of you are invited to witness the triumphant return of REAL underground art. Join me this evening in celebration of the following fine artists, outlaws and persons unknown. If you dare...

DAN SEAGRAVE

Under Dan Seagrave's brushes the organic and mechanical meld into one, forming twisted and malevolent landscapes suffused with beautiful stillborn terror. Barbed roots unfurl among cryptic monoliths and shadows seethe with palpable menace. Born in the suburbs of Nottinghamshire, England in 1970, Dan began his professional career at the age of 17 when he provided cover art for Lawnmower Deth. Soon his tremendous talent caught the attention of then-fledging label Earchache which resulted in the use of his art for Morbid Angel's Altars of Madness LP. A domino effect of demand for his 'orrible art followed and his unmistakable imagery has since been featured on over 80 album covers including work for Dismember, Entombed, Suffocation and Portland's very own doom disciples Aldebaran! The micro-masterpieces featured in this exhibition were created exclusively for CUT & PASTED// BURNED & WASTED!

DANIEL "DESECRATOR" CORCUERA

Daniel Desecrator hails from Chile where life is cheap and postage to the U.S. is decidedly unreliable. The 11 original works of art featured in this exhibit languished in a post office storage bin for months and were presumed lost until they suddenly arrived like an ambushing guerrilla army of avenging hellspawn! Since his emergence on the international frontlines in 2005, Daniel Desecrator has rapidly risen to become one of the most highly regarded young artists in the underground, taking the blasphemous aesthetic originally pioneered by French artist Chris Moyen and elevating it to new heights (depths?) of depravity. Born in San Vicente, Chile in 1985 he is entirely self taught and currently does the devil's work as a tattoo artist, illustrator and vocalist/bassist for Slaughtbbath. His incredibly complex drawings have been put to the test by such underground luminaries as Bestial Mockery, Sathanas, Vomitor, Suicidal Winds, Dead Congregation, Hooded Menace, Thornspawn, Satanic Warmaster, and more. This is Daniel's first U.S. art exhibition. Worship!

CHELSEA COON

Chelsea Coon represents the burned in our Cut & Pasted // Burned & Wasted theme. Her contributions to the exhibition include an exquisitely rendered and altogether otherworldly Lovecraftian wood burn as well as deep shadowy portraiture worthy of Otto Dix's finest moments. Born during an Indian Summer on the 29th of September in 1986 in a tiny Idaho mountain town just 30 miles from the Canadian border, her unemployed hippie dad taught her how to draw frogs when she was but knee high and an organic inspiration stirs in her veins to this day. An emerging artist with a bright future, she has already provided work for Warwolves, Eldath and Weregoat, the later of whom will preside over the opening reception at Black Water this evening with a very special ritual of blood and madness.

ELLI ADAMS

Ellie Adams is a local tattoo artist and self taught artist who recently declared her arrival under the moniker of TRENCH ART. Born in 1984, she was raised in Boston, Massachusetts and had to drop out of high school to support herself but struggle would not suppress her blossoming artistic talent. She has a long standing love for comic books and tattoo art and cites "monsters, bugs, snakes and other creepy crawlies" as the primary inspiration for her work.

HALSEY SWAIN

Underneath the bulletbelts and peroxide snarls, the artist known on the internets as "Halseycaust" is actually a very talented and earnest young artist who works hard to realize her own potential. Born in Salem, Massachusetts ("...don't burn the witch!") on August 29, 1984 she attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and came to international attention in recent years with her post-apocalyptic portrayals of death punks and feral holocaust wolves for such bands as Toxic Holocaust, Evil Army and Tiger Junkies. Halsey credits Boris, Enrich, Audubon and her own accomplished artist mother as primary influences. As the nuclear pyre expires a burning talent emerges from the ashes.

COLE BARRINGTON

Cole is fortunate to have a registered nurse for a ladyfriend. He's gonna need it. A young barbarian hailing from Santa Barbara, California who can frequently be seen stagediving, spilling beer and generally thrashing wildly in places of ill repute and questionable sanitation, Cole's drawings for this exhibition introduce him to the world for the first time. A twisted path of art victories is sure to unfold before his bloody pencils if he can only sit still long enough to create more work of this sordid calibre.

TANYA FINDER

Tanya made my daughter a great tempeh reuben at a punk show a few months back and so began my interest in her passion for bug-eyed skulls and chaos logic. Tanya grew up in Vancouver, Washington and lived in Denmark briefly before finally relocating to Portland, Oregon where she currently emerges herself in the local D.I.Y. punk scene with her bands Wild Mohicans, and Moral Hex. A young artist with a big heart and even bigger combat boots, she was born on September 15, 1991 but can frequently be spotted performing in bars throughout the Northwest because who the fuck is gonna stop her?

HANNAH STOUFFER

Born in Aspen, Colorado in 1981, San Francisco based artist Hannah Stouffer endeavors to understand the greatest human conflict and the constant contentions that we all endure. I don't know what that means, but I first encountered her intoxicating grin at a comic convention and was blown away by her intimate and unapologetically sexy and refreshingly unassuming fine art prints. In her work, feminine decorative embellishments are counterbalanced by macabre motifs, the animal kingdom, and the never-ending pursuit of illustrating explosive emotional transcendence. Stouffer is best known for the incongruity of intricately executed imagery and shadowy and ethereal themes. Her contributions to Cut & Pasted // Burned & Wasted are drawings from her Myth Ritual series which depart from her more well known aesthetic but still reflect a powerful intuitive vision, deceptive symmetry and the worship of SEX & DEATH.

FINN MCWUHAL

The artist known as Finn is a re-animator of many talents. When he is not intoxicating guests with hand-rolled sushi and home-brewed alcohol, he is defying the grave with creepy sepulchral sculptures. Born in 1972 in Minnesota, the dark woods were his playground and decomposition another shade of life. Currently he resides in Portland where he makes death dance within the confines of beautifully ornate animated music boxes and miniature anatomical odditoriums. Like a true alchemist, he is driven by the seduction of form, the call of the unknown, and the transformations of fire. CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED features his entire body of work to date. Don't even think of touching his work or you too will soon appear in a small box of bones.

AKIHIKO "SUGI" SUGIMOTO

The brilliant Japanese artist known as "Sugi" has been creating flyer and album cover art for two decades and has established himself as an unassuming legend in the D.I.Y. hardcore punk underground. His insanely stippled and wildly colored paintings and drawings are absolutely breathtaking to behold. The list of bands he has worked with is epic but, since you're curious enough to have read this far, here's a complete list: Power Bomb, Rapes, Tetsu Alley, See You In Hell, Gudon, Warhead, Insane War, Crucified Junk, Selfish, Liberate, Crown, Never Again, Bandit, Slang, D-Clone, Acrostix, Origin of (m), Pisschrist, Framtid, Systematic Death, Effigy, Rise From The Dead, Nightmare, Concrete Sox, Mushizu, Nuclear Death Terror, Burning Leather, Ai, The Slowmotions, Unit 21, Wild//Tribe, Burial, Anti Mob, Go Filth Go,bastard, Judgement, Rotten Cadaver, Cave Men, Soucyou Pistons, Forca Macabra, Germ Attack, Masakari, Giuda, Death Side, Unfit Scum, Further Charges, Crude, Wind of Death, Love Potion, State Poison, The Corpse, Desolation and local stenchcore battalion Hellshock! Sorta makes you feel lazy doesn't it?

CALVIN WRIGHT

Calvin is a great young artist with wild potential and a burning call to storm the world with his unique brand of visual chaos- or at least the local beer store. Born in 1987 in Vermont, Calvin has had about as much formal artistic training as the rest of this exhibition's contributing artists (i.e. NONE!). But his work has a rich imaginative depth and a hilarious sense of humor that conjures the heydays of Mad Magazine- specifically the bent nosed depravity of Don Martin and the grotesqueries of Basil Wolverton. His primary inspirations are altered states of consciousness achieved through the overindulgence of potent psychedelics, grim reality, sweet leaf, raging punk, and mental unrest. When he is not grinning madly over his sketchpad Calvin plays drums in Nerveskade, Bog People, Bi-Marks and a few other bands that he has yet to trouble himself to name. Careful with that axe, Sid Vicious.

FRANK BURKARD
The mysterious Mr. Burkard represents the cut & pasted aesthetic in our atrocity exhibit. I am proud to count him among my very closest friends and he also happens to be an enigmatic artist who scarcely recognizes the impact his obsessive and nearly impenetrable visual lexicon has had on the underground over the past decade. Frank's zines R'lyeh Rising and Warning (among others) were/are declarations of cosmic paranoia and conspiratorial musings from a man compulsively drawn to arcane knowledge and life's hidden sinister truths. His contributions to CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED include relics from his days as the frontman for Atrocious Madness as well as original hand-assembled pages from his xeroxed zines and silkscreened artifacts from the deepest tracts of hell (before the days of readily available Crass font and bullshit "punk" webzines). This evening he will also be presiding over the turntables and unleashing a heavy arsenal of vintage vinyl on an unsuspecting audience. The stars are right!

CHANEL ADAIR
Chanel has formerly been featured in my Entartete Kunts exhibits and is a rising talent with tremendous potential, passion and attention to detail. The abrasive and beloved vocalist for Lebenden Toten, her contributions to CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED include the public unveiling of her new masterpiece that will soon be featured on the debut Deathcharge LP on UNSEEN FORCES!

DENNIS DREAD
It is very likely that Dennis Dread will soon be the wasted in our CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED assembly. Dread is old. Certainly old enough to know better. And yet he has stumbled through nearly 40 years of life without bothering to use real art supplies, write an artist's statement in the first person narrative or give a fuck what you think. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't shower him in extravagant birthday gifts. In fact, he most certainly desires (deserves!) your records, drugs, and sleazy sexual favors in dimly lit restrooms. He squandered many hours of his life curating this exhibition because he genuinely believes in the profound transformative power of unfettered expression. SUPPORT REAL UNDERGROUND ART!

CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED

2011-05-16T01:28:00.000-07:00

CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED

Dennis Dread is proud to announce this latest grand declaration of art against the modern world, on display from June 2 through July 4 at Black Water Gallery in southeast Portland, Oregon with a very special Opening Reception on Thursday, June 2 featuring performances by The Bi-Marks and Weregoat! CUT & PASTED // BURNED & WASTED is an incendiary display of handmade relics and artifacts from the thriving international metal & punk underground, featuring more than a dozen artists from around the world. As always, neither the gallery nor the curator will take any percentage of sales from this show. That means if artists sell their work, the artists keep all the money. Support REAL underground art!

BLACK WATER GALLERY

1925 SE Morrison

Portland, Oregon

(parking & entrance in the back)

Scrawls From The Crypt: Friday the 13th!

2011-05-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

"Tch...Tch...Tch...Ha...Ha...Ha..." Today we celebrate superstitious numerology with a few hits from the ~~machete~~ archives! The cartoon above is circa 1992. The original was about 12" x 14" and in full color but, unfortunately, it didn't survive my cross-country adventures by freight train many years ago so this b/w doodle is all that remains. My apologies to Charles Schultz. Some of you may recall this drawing from Destroying Angels #3, where it appeared along with the following article penned by the great Chas Balun! This piece of literary brilliance is cut and pasted from a 1987 issue of Fangoria magazine (#62). I loved it back when I was a teenager and I suppose I still love it today. Enjoy...

You'll want to look closely toward the end of the article, nerds. That is indeed the letter I wrote to Fangoria way back in 1987 in response to Chas' article (I turned 15 the same month this was published!). Hilarious stuff. I think they edited my hand-scrawled letter and added a few fancy words like "Emeritus" that I probably didn't even understand back then but it was still pretty exciting to see my letter printed in Fango, dude.

And what the fuck is this? Another scrawl from the crypt, circa 1988! This was one of the drawings I brought with me to my first horror convention and nervously shoved in the faces of the very kind professional artists I met that fateful day. There's a lot of funny business going on here but instead of humiliating myself further, I'm off to grab a six-pack and the first 4 installments of Friday the 13th! "I'm tired of always being the goat!"

Happy Friday the 13th!

LUCIFER RISING DOWNLOAD NOW AVAILABLE!

2011-05-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

Bobby BeauSoleil’s immortal soundtrack for Lucifer Rising, the legendary film by Kenneth Anger, is now available in digital download format in two versions. White Dog Music has partnered with CD Baby to offer audiophile quality MP3 downloads of these recordings at a special price.

LUCIFER RISING, the original motion picture soundtrack, unabridged. Download Now for only $5.99

THE LUCIFER RISING SUITE, the original soundtrack, plus the 1967 version of the soundtrack, plus all of the project recordings. Nearly 3 hours of music. Download Now for only $19.99

Also available for a limited time: THE LUCIFER RISING SUITE boxed LP set. We have fewer than 20 copies of this boxed album remaining, so you are urged to act now. This boxed set includes 4 LP's, each in their own full color sleeves, an extensive booklet with photos, and two large posters. Buy Now for only $54.99

The Occult Roots Of Metal Iconography

2011-05-04T08:56:00.001-07:00

METAL ICONOGRAPHY

Sometimes I'll do just about anything to avoid washing dishes, fixing the towel rack in the bathroom, mowing the lawn, going to work or otherwise behaving like a boring fucking adult. Fortunately for you, dear reader, these episodes of liberated clarity frequently result in me diving headfirst into the thankless abyss that is this blog (can we please just call it an "online fanzine"?). So today we draw back the veil of time and dust to reveal the esoteric roots and unexpected lineage of some of the most cherished album covers of all time (and a few that no one cares about). Don't think for one moment that this is some smug post-ironic deconstruction meant to undermine the artists or bands depicted. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If you're like me, you initially gravitated toward heavy metal because it granted you access to areas and ideas otherwise impenetrable and strictly forbidden. Is that not the compelling allure of the occult? Seek, pilgrims! Evil has no boundaries...

BATHORY

We shall start out with a specimen you should all be familiar with by now. The first Bathory LP boasted one of the most striking and memorable graphics of the decade but it was only in recent years that the true creator of the infamous yellow goat was finally celebrated. Quorthon's official website describes the history of the image as follows:

"Next up was the album cover artwork. It had already been decided that the main color for the album was going to be black. Not wanting to feature the classic Baphomet illustration on the front as first intended, a single monstrous goat like face was glued together from a collage of eyes, a nose and a mouth cut out from several horror comic magazines. Liberal amounts of tipex and black ink was used for masking and adding a few details such as the torso, fur, elongated ears and horns...[the] working title for the debut album was Pentagrammaton, but this working title was discarded when several people read it out as Pentagon. The pentagram was moved to the back of the album cover and replaced with a monster face made up from several bits cut out from various horror comics."

Well, we all know by now that it was no horror comic collage at all but, in fact, the original creation of American illustrator Joseph Smith, who teaches art and design at the acclaimed Pratt Institute to this very day. The illustration in question was swiped from page 81 in Erica Jong's beloved coffee table book Witches, published in 1981. Behold:

Metal journalist Todd DePalma contacted Black Mark Records in 2008 in an effort to clear up this misunderstanding once and for all. The response he received after several inquiries is as follows:

"Hello,
The Bathory site was made by Bathory/Quorthon, he constructed the site, he updated the site he wrote the site. He did have full controll over it and full reponse for it, it was his site and his souvereignty over it. We are a label without any permission to enter other artists site for changes! Nevermind if they`re living or not living any longer. You guys have to accept that the constructer of the site is dead and the site comes to be for all time as the artist Quorthon left it. As said we`re a label, Quorthon Bathory surely was the greatest artist we had but we did not own him for that and his artistical freedom was his own only. Please respect that. Please feel free to update other sides or your own side if you think the credits you are missing are such important for todays heavy metal world and their listeners.
All the best wishes,
Klaudia"

Now the world knows the truth.

BATHORY

(Part II)

Ok, I'll be perfectly honest. I've never heard this CD or even seen it in real life. But it's too good to pass up for our purposes. Pretty great rendering of Lucifer either rising or falling from/to hell. At first glance the colors and textures resemble the Nifelheim LP Devil's Force (which was itself something of an homage to Iron Maiden's Number Of The Beast single) but upon closer examination it is clear that the roots of this painting lay in Frank Frazetta's unforgettable image known as Against The Gods! The only thing more remarkable than this painting is the fact that Frazetta probably completed it in one casual evening while humming Frank Sinatra and playing with his camera collection. HAIL THE KING!

EMPEROR

I've always adored this fantastically complex and luminescent masterpiece by Kristian "Necrolord" Wahlin. If the nonchalant observer was asked to paint a picture of "heavy metal" they would most likely attempt something along these lines: an icy realm inhabited by armed trolls, pointy medieval strongholds, frosty bridges, brooding clouds, malevolent nordic trees and of course...DEATH ON A PALE HORSE! In fact, that's the unofficial title of the classic engraving by suave as fuck French master (Paul) Gustave Doré from which these ghost riders in the sky were lifted. I'm not saying Necrolord didn't do this justice. He did. But at some point the band gave up and simply released this record with Doré's art photoshopped onto a pitch black background. Boring. Doré himself died relatively young and left a handsome corpse in 1883 but not before unleashing Lucifer and his legions upon the world in the form of hundreds of exquisitely detailed chiaroscuro engravings. The world will be playing catch-up for at least another century.

SLAYER S.A.

Don't worry, hellions. We'll get to the other Slayer momentarily. This, however, is Slayer from San Antonio, Texas' moment. I've never been entirely sure what's going on here. The only logical conclusion I can draw is that the classic EP cover pictured above is the band's photographic ~~reproduction of~~ "homage" to yet another Joseph Smith painting, this one also originally featured in Witches, first as the frontispiece inviting readers to push open that oaken door of mystery and again on page 65. One might wonder why Joe's work was so unabashedly stolen back then, but if you've ever had the pleasure of poring over his fantastic art it is almost more perplexing why even more bands haven't raided his creative legacy. He's just so damn good! Credit is finally given where credit is very clearly due:

DANZIG

This one is no secret but I'm still amazed and a bit bummed that this sacred icon of my youth came from such a profane source. Ok, most of my sacred icons came from profane sources but...CRYSTAR the Crystal Warrior???? I hope comic artist Michael Golden received some royalties. This grossly uncredited appropriation first appeared on Samhain's November Coming Fire but is most popularly remembered for its appearance on the debut Danzig gatefold LP. I can't believe I don't have this tattooed on my cock...

SLAYER

"Join us...Join Us...JOIN US!!!!" Say what you want about Slayer (or, better yet, please just stop saying, "SLAYER!") but Hell Awaits still rules. The chainsaw riffs shred your corpus callosum leaving you clapping like a one-handed conundrum, the brilliant poetry barely makes sense but somehow still pisses off your parents and Dave Lombardo sounds like he's hammering his way out of a coffin filled with wet skulls. The cover art is simply fucking awesome. So primitive and strange and absolutely at war with the rules of composition, negative space and God.

Where on Earth did cover artist Albert Cuellar come up with such an insane vision of hell? Do you really want to know? Can you accept the truth?

Whoa. It was lifted without much creative embellishment from the July 1977 issue of Heavy Metal magazine and the original artist was none other than French comix visionary Jean Giraud, otherwise known as Moebius. Let's take another look:

Damn.

What about that other demon that's tearing that dude's face up with his savage fucking claw?

Oh. Well, have you ever wondered what else those demons did to that hapless captor of sin?

Now you know.

SLAYER

(Part II)

Another great record from Slayer's best period. This vinyl picture disc still hangs on my wall, right above my drawing desk, and never fails to inspire and amuse. Somehow you felt like you already knew this precise scene from the moment you saw it staring back at you from the record store wall. Hmm. Perhaps that feeling of deja vu was not so mystical after all...

Artist Albert Cuellar very conservatively referenced the central image from this very early panel by the master of macabre himself, Berni Wrightson! This drawing originally appeared in an EC horror spoof called Ghastly Horror Comix in 1969 but it was reprinted and made more widely available in the 1980 Wrightson collection The Mutants. You can hardly blame Cuellar for ripping this off. It's a perfectly archetypal zombie and, in the spirit of fair play, Wrightson himself was aping the great comic artist Graham "Ghastly" Ingels when he drew this for an underground fanzine in the late 60's.

What about ol' Dave Lombardo back there shaking his drumsticks at the moon? Lifted from another Wrightson sketch circa 1970. This one was also reprinted in The Mutants, which is most likely where Cuellar discovered it since this drawing appears exactly opposite the above mentioned one-page strip. You can still score this book very cheap at decent used book stores and it's exciting to see Wrightson's evolution from an immensely talented young Frazetta disciple to a genuine icon in his own right just a few years later. While we're on the subject of Frazetta again...

MANILLA ROAD

My kids think this one is a bit of a stretch. Their argument- and they supported it with a pretty convincing google image search- is that this painting is just a by the numbers viking-at-the-helm-of-a-longship rendering. Generic but not strictly derivative. But I'm sticking to my guns. The palette and composition are just too close for coincidence. C'mon. Take a look at Frank Frazetta's gorgeous painting Cane on the Golden Sea and draw your own conclusion. Either way, my kids are still grounded.

AMEBIX

First of all, don't give me any snide commentary about how Amebix isn't "metal". Amebix is one of the few bands that masterfully transcends all narrow genres and limitations and if you can't accept that, fuck off and die! Now that we've cleared that up, I hope this image is no mystery to you, dear reader. It is not only one of the most instantly recognizable and bootlegged underground images of the past several decades but it is also the only image in our collection here that truly boasts occult genealogy. Amebix singer/bassist/blacksmith Rob Miller drew the early draft featured above back in the 80's and it soon became the unofficial mascot of the band. However, the original design was the creation of black magician and "automatic" art visionary Austin Osman Spare. My first encounter with this absolutely haunting painting was on the cover of Man, Myth & Magic- the illustrated encyclopedia of the supernatural- first released as slim pulp magazines and eventually assembled into a 24 volume hardbound set. A few years ago I had the opportunity to ask Rob Miller where he first discovered this image himself and what it meant to the band. He had this to say:

"We originally saw that in a fanzine in the late 70's and then came across it in the Witchcraft Museum at Bocastle. It is a powerful image that speaks to the unconscious. Austin Osman Spare had an interest in the Atavistic, which is very much where Amebix were coming from too."

The Power Remains.

ENGORGED

You didn't seriously think I was gonna let myself off the hook, did you? I drew this mess back in 1997 at the ripe age of 25 for my pals in Engorged. It turned out to be the lyric sheet art for their debut CD Death Metal Attack. I'm not ashamed of my roots, my references or my occasional blatant thievery. We've all gotta start somewhere...

These images are blurry because they were photographed through the glass frame but I still get a laugh out of this drawing. In case you were wondering- YES!- this clusterfuck of pop culture references is an intentional homage to Sean Taggart's interior art for the debut Carnivore LP. I spin Carnivore almost every time I DJ and will go to my grave singing their barbaric praises. Pay close attention to the drum set. Apparently nothing is sacred:

Mocking black metal dudes in 1997 was the equivalent of beating up hippies back in 1985 (see Sean Taggart's drawing above). Hence this character who finds himself cursing God whilst caught in a mosh with his medieval weaponry. More importantly, pay attention to that fetishistically rendered Doc Marten boot. Total Taggart worship!

FINIS...?

GROSS ANATOMY (part 13)

2011-04-30T02:16:00.001-07:00

WALPURGISNACHT.

Light the 13 candles of doom, brothers and sisters! For this 13th installment of Gross Anatomy we herald the arrival of Sweden's Saturnalia Temple with their debut full length recording Aion of Drakon. These invokers of psychedoomic Black Magic Metal reaffirmed my faith in the majesty of electric amplification and all things heavy. I am honored to be involved in the manifestation of their latest hypnotic masterpiece and delighted to announce its official release at the strike of midnight...TONIGHT! The evil seed bears its wicked fruit...

"Enlightenment consists not merely in the seeing of luminous shapes and visions, but in making the darkness visible." ~Carl Jung

I worked out the symmetry with this very loose pencil sketch. In many ways Aion of Drakon is a gateway for the listener and was very much a threshold for me as well. It will be most of the world's introduction to the band since their previous recordings were available in relatively limited pressings so I was conscious to arrange the central imagery within a portal of sorts. I also wanted to convey the seductive foreboding and transcendental awe that Saturnalia Temple inspires at their heaviest.

I started with the red ink to reduce smudging...

Many hours and several spent ballpoint pens later, I emerged from the dungeon with a nearly completed creation. My lady snapped this photo on her "smart phone", which is so damn clever I imagine it will be doing the actual drawing in a few years. As Fenriz recently remarked, "It's the best of both worlds, hand drawn covers and mobile phone photographs!"

The drawing is now desaturated for pure blacks and rich grey tones.

"....Cut the silver cord with the Scythe of Thantifaxath..."

The CD version of Aion of Drakon is available NOW from the AJNA OFFENSIVE and in Europe from NUCLEAR WINTER. Vinyl pressing to be unleashed on the coming Solstice!

Until next time....

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

GROSS ANATOMY (part 12)

2011-04-28T01:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Gross Anatomy, all you Fiends and Monster Kids! Recently I was invited to contribute to the upcoming issue of Roctober, the magazine that celebrates "unjustly obscure musical icons, enigmas, and eccentrics." The theme for issue #49 is "living in the 80's" and editor Jacob Austen was tasteful enough to assemble a non-ironic tribute to Glenn Danzig's demoniacal contributions to that otherwise neon decade. If you read this blog regularly (or have had the dubious pleasure of drinking with me on Halloween), you already know that I worship everything Glenn Danzig created from his skeletal 1977 debut Misfits single Cough/Cool right through the magnificently muscular sophomore Danzig LP Lucifuge in 1990. After that my attention admittedly drifted but I was nonetheless delighted to offer my humble visual and literary gratitude to the man who wrote the soundtrack to my early teenage years. And the rest of my life. But who's counting?

First up was this title image for the article. I wanted to incorporate fonts that would reflect Danzig's evolution throughout the decade. The Misfits logo was originally swiped from Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and the Samhain logo was stolen from a 1959 movie poster for The Giant Gila Monster, so at this point we're looking at several generations worth of "homage". There's so much great imagery to plumb from this fertile period of his career that the challenge was to employ a tiny modicum of discretion and not put the whole baby in the meat slicer (to paraphrase the man himself).

Next, I loosened up a bit with some aimless doodling and soon arrived at this playful caricature. I wanted to take a slightly more serious and reverential approach but this scribble contains a few key components that I decided needed to be featured in the actual drawing, like the Captain Harlock shirt and Unholy Passion succubus...

"I want your skulls, I need your skulls..." I found the perfect reference photo of a young Glenn Danzig in Eerie Von's fantastic photography book Misery Obscura and went to work. One of the things you immediately notice when you attempt to draw Glenn is that his bangs covered his face for almost the entire decade! I might ink this or hit it with watercolors in the future but for the current assignment I wanted it to remain raw and visually cohesive with this old pencil portrait I did way back in 1989...

Speaking of living in the 80's, this portrait remains one of my personal favorites. You can read more about this drawing in my "review" of the first Danzig record in my special column...

Featured in Roctober #49...COMING SOON!

Until next time...

tell your children not to walk my way.

Listen To The Germs.

2011-04-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

I apologize for jumping on a bandwagon but OFF! rules.

"You're the pollution. You're the problem. We're the solution."

Here I am attempting to explain punk rock to Keith Morris. He was unimpressed.

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT!

2011-04-19T23:29:00.001-07:00

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End on April 27th! Vinyl worship from 9pm until 2am.

April 27, 2011

BOI-OI-YOING: THE NEW YORK HARD CORETOONS of SEAN TAGGART!

2011-04-17T14:01:00.001-07:00

For those of you still grieving the recent anniversary of Pete Steele's untimely passing into the meat locker of the hereafter, I humbly present the following interview with Sean Taggart from Destroying Angels #6. It doesn't really have anything at all to do with Pete Steele but of course Taggart drew the cover art and insert for the debut Carnivore record and went on to draw some truly classic show flyers for the band over the course of his early career. I hope this little conversation will subvert your frown just a bit and remind you that not all of the good ones die young.

Dennis Dread and Sean Taggart moshing at Sean's home in New York circa 2003.

Joey Ramone Day

2011-04-15T00:15:00.001-07:00

R.I.P. Joey Ramone

May 19, 1951 - April 15, 2001
"I'm against it."

SEX, DRUGS & INSURRECTION!

2011-04-13T01:37:00.001-07:00

Underground comix historian, collector, writer and badass champion of free expression Patrick Rosenkranz will be making a special appearance at Stumptown Comics Fest this Saturday afternoon! I realize most of you cretins will still be recovering from your own sex, drugs and insurrection at noon on a Saturday but if you can peel your face off the bathroom floor and get down to the Oregon Convention Center, I promise Mr. 'Kranz will teach you a thing or two about REAL underground art. Don't miss it! It looks like there will also be a panel discussion about horror comics on Sunday that could be interesting.

UNSEEN FORCES

2011-04-01T00:07:00.001-07:00

I am delighted to herald on this Day of Fools the arrival of UNSEEN FORCES, heavy vinyl cult lovingly curated by your intrepid defender and my indomitable comrade Tyler Davis of The Ajna Offensive. Our first release is available...TODAY! Expect the unexpected. Demand distinction. Fuck the modern world.

UNSEEN FORCES

po box 40667

portland, oregon

97240-0667

usa

BAND OF THE WEEK!

2011-03-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

"Evening Star I can see the light...Evening Star guided me so bright."

~Judas Priest

COMRADES: Darkthrone has launched their very own BAND OF THE WEEK website...TODAY! Consider this your denim & leather gilded compass- your shining North Star in the black abyss- guiding you through the wasteland of modern metal. LONG LIVE THE LOUD!!!!

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT

2011-03-17T16:46:00.001-07:00

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End on March 30th! For this 8th installment of what has quickly become a monthly Portland tradition for the TRUE, I will once again be spilling beer all over my favorite records from 9pm until 2am and celebrating the birth of a trusted comrade...

MARCH 30, 2011

Scrawls From The Crypt: Caught in a Mosh '88

2011-03-08T00:19:00.000-08:00

What is it?

Whoah! In hindsight this looks like an outtake from William Friedkin's Cruising (1980) with all those tight jeans and contorted facial expressions. Despite the homo-erotic underpinnings, this adolescent doodle is pretty much what concerts looked like in New York during the crossover period of the late 80's. Baldies, mohican mullets, fat longhairs and puffy white Reeboks flying overhead (nice "anarchy" shirt, dude). Unfortunately, there really weren't a lotta ladies to be found. And who could blame 'em? You social networking types should thank your lucky stars that heavy metal finally caught up to the fairer sex, 'cause all the attractive women I see wearing bulletbelts these days DID NOT EXIST in my youth. Developmental psychologists occasionally reference several important stages in a teenager's emerging identity that often cause a "spark" or "flash" of cognition. These milestones usually occur at age 10, 16 and 19. This might explain why whatever you were doing when you were 16 will probably retain some special significance for the rest of your life and always take you back to a very core sense of Self (for better or worse). This might also explain why the few drawings I kept from back in the day happen to be dated 1988. I guess that was a good year for me creatively. Sure, the drawings themselves were obviously flawed in every sense of the word but they were full of personal meaning and contained seeds of things to come. Which, reminds me, I gotta get back down in the studio. There's work to be done...

Caught in a mosh.

BANG THAT HEAD THAT DOESN'T BANG

2011-02-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

Christian Mistress kicks off their March tour this Friday at Portland, Oregon's East End with a very special appearance from local unwearers of shirts Danava! To celebrate this rare aligning of dark nebulae I shall be spinning heavy vintage vinyl all night long! You will be bummed if you miss this show. To paraphrase Mr. Bobby Leibling, don't say I didn't warn you...

East End

March 4th

9pm

V is for VICTORY!

2011-02-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

I received the following unsolicited message this week regarding my drawing for Dark Thrones and Black Flags:

Dennis,
The Darkthrone cover art that came in 2nd in the Jan 11, 2011 cover voting it is now entered into the monthly voting for January. The artist that receives the most votes in January will receive a $100.00 and be entered into the yearly voting. You can vote at www.reigninart.com
Thanks,
Martin Geramita
Reign In Art

I'm guessing he meant "February" since I just got the message two days ago. Anyway, I have no idea what this means or how to vote but $100 sounds pretty sweet. I look forward to drinking Budweiser in a pile of money with a smoking chimpanzee. A vote for DREAD is a vote for...VICTORY!

Frightzone News Service

2011-02-20T20:40:00.001-08:00

This just in! Ryan Engorged has not only updated his blog but he has invented a new "tag team review" format that is destined to revolutionize Attention Deficit Disorder treatment. Do you slobs need any other excuses to come out to the East End this week????

Dread: "Hey Ryan, why don't we celebrate your birthday at East End this month!"

Ryan: "I dunno, Dennis. You're really short and your records are kinda lame."

Dread: "Did you know Peter Falk and I are from the same town?"

Ryan: "Ok, let's do it!!!!"

CALL FROM THE GRAVE

2011-02-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!

Oh, wait. Woops. This is actually a New Renaissance Records press release circa 1987 and this is how news (and gossip and general shit-talking) was shared amongst metalheads before the days of "social networking". This is also fucking fantastic! I want to see the photos this Italian photographer snapped on the rooftop before the cops came. Today we celebrate the birth of one of Black Metal's founding fathers, Tomas Börje Forsberg (aka, Quorthon), who was born in Stockholm, Sweden on February 17, 1966 and departed Midgaard for the Eternal Fire on June 4, 2004 at the age of 38 due to heart failure. Needless to say, Quorthon/Bathory (the two entities are virtually indistinguishable as music was his life's work) singlehandedly guided the trajectory of heavy metal over the course of two decades, first pioneering the sound and aesthetics of Norsk Black Metal with his extreme necro-satanic stance and later pioneering what has come to be called Viking Metal with earnest (and occasionally painful) hymns to his ancestry and native land. It is difficult to overestimate the influence this visionary artist has had on generations of reverent musicians, visual artists and rabid fans. Heed the call from the grave! Happy Birthday, Quorthon!

Scrawls From The Crypt: Lemmy '88

2011-02-13T18:33:00.001-08:00

"No one knows, friends or foes, if Valhalla lies beyond the grave..."

Here's one from the crypt that you've probably never seen unless you were...um..."lucky" enough to score a copy of Destroying Angels #5. I didn't keep many scribblings from my youth (you aren't missing anything, trust me) but here's a favorite that somehow survived the freight trains and lost highways that were to be the graveyard of many drawings along the way. I whipped this out in 1988 at the ripe age of 16 and all I can say is that we all have to start somewhere, don't we? The likeness is decent but I accidentally gave Lemmy a six string "axe" instead of a Richenbacher bass. Doh! Oh well, what were YOU drawing in 1988? I might post more of these old drawings because I'm a glutton for punishment and it's pretty fun to see how things have progressed over the years. And how they have not. Of course this is dedicated to the one and only Lemmy Kilmister, who I finally had the opportunity to properly meet last week and thank for several decades of enjoyment. He told the lady, "If you had to wake up and shave this face everyday you wouldn't think I was so important, believe me..."

Eternal hails to Eric Helzer and Jason Charles for making this happen!

MAD Genius Nearly 90!

2011-02-07T18:21:00.001-08:00

Mad Magazine cartoonist and all around sweetheart/funny man Al Jaffee is approaching his 90th birthday! Don't have a panic attack if you don't immediately recall who Mr. Jaffee is or why he is a genius of visual gags. All you need to know is that he began working for Mad in 1964 and remains one of the longest running and most consistently excellent cartoonists in the magazine's colorful history. He is also the inventor of the amazing back page fold-in gags that influenced generations of nerdy artist types (and probably your stoned older brother). I'm convinced Jaffee's obsessive eye for detail, meticulous rendering and occasionally barbed- but always fun- style was an unconscious influence on Joe Coleman. Just look at the symmetry, bruised hues and swirling strokes of both painters' best work (the similarities are particularly evident in their renderings of clouds). If you're too young to remember, Jaffee's fold-in paintings were optical illusions that often took satirical aim at current events and pop culture trends. Like his harsh statement about class and war in the July 1968 issue which shows a group of young high school drop-outs standing in line at an unemployment agency and the fold-in reveals their future career option: cannon fodder. Jaffee is a technical master and a hilarious storyteller who "wrote" most of his own weird invention gags and visual fold-in narratives for much of his nearly five decade career. There's a really great interview showing Jaffee at work in his studio and explaining the process for creating his work here. I certainly wouldn't mind growing old like ol' Al Jaffee: laughing gracefully at the drawing table and diving into the next project. Mad is currently collecting 90th birthday cards for him and I highly recommend all of you cretins send something (cards, letters, presents, drawings). His birthday is March 13th and the deadline for sending birthday wishes on his behalf is March 1st. Get busy:

The Big Jaffee

c/o Mad Mag
1700 Broadway
NY NY 10019

Photo courtesy of New York Times.

BORN TO LOSE, LIVE TO WIN

2011-02-06T01:37:00.000-08:00

I guess the kids call it "rock 'n' roll". I think it's gonna be real big...

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT!

2011-02-02T15:54:00.001-08:00

LAST WEDNESDAY ON THE LEFT returns to Portland's East End on February 23 and this month we're celebrating the birth of my trusted comrade Ryan Engorged, speed metal extraordinaire and curator of the infrequently updated but always educational Frightzone News Service (*note to Ryan = stop watching re-runs of Columbo and update your blog). For the past two decades Ryan has defended the faith locally and his various bands have shared stages with the likes of Inquisition, Incantation and Angel Corpse long before those bands became "cool" (the shows were killer, where were you?). So, yeah, Ryan is an old geezer who never sold his vinyl and clearly deserves a proper birthday thrashing. Who will survive the onslaught of Lääz Rockit, Metal Duck and the Critters soundtrack and what will be left of them??? Banging begins at 9pm.

FEBRUARY 23

Yes, Jay Chattaway's 1981 Maniac soundtrack is this terrifying.

SKULLDUGGERY AND OTHER BRAINWASHINGS

2011-01-27T11:52:00.001-08:00

Here's a special treat from the vaults for all you PUSHEAD fans out there! Way back in 1989 Pushead had his first "retrospective" solo art exhibition at New York City's legendary Psychedelic Solution Gallery. It was a fantastic display of drawings that included his already classic covers for Hirax and Corrosion of Conformity as well as his early Better Youth Organization skinhead graphics (which incidentally had a profound impact on a young man known as Vinnie Stigma almost ten years earlier and directly influenced the formation and development of Agnostic Front). I was 17 at the time of this exhibit and it was nothing less than totally validating to see Pushead's work up close. Somehow his recognition in a gallery environment legitimized my own crude skull scribblings and you can bet I made repeat visits over the course of that month to imbibe the essence of his meticulous line work and generally revel in what I perceived then as a triumph of the maligned underground metal/punk movement. For some strange reason, I've always kept the following statement that the gallery provided to contextualize his work. It's pretty fun reading. Enjoy!

Next I'll be posting my interview with Psychedelic Solution Gallery founder Jacaeber Kastor from the long gone second issue of Destroying Angels! Stay tuned, fiends...